A group of concerned citizens of Kogi state drawn across political parties, Save Kogi Now Initiative, has called on President Bola Tinubu to intiate process towards postponing the governorship election scheduled to hold on November 11, 2023.
A communiqué issued at the end of the group’s meeting in Lokoja on Thursday urged President Tinubu to convene a meeting of stakeholders in Kogi state as a matter of urgency.
The communiqué signed by Mr Daniel Ayejoto and Ismail Adinoyi said the unfolding tensed atmosphere in the state does not guarantee a free and fair election, noting that with President Tinubu as the Chairman of ECOWAS fighting against military rule in Africa, must avert militarization of election in the country to avoid embarrassing the nation’s democracy.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must consider party politics as secondary in dealing with the situation in Kogi state which if not well managed, may be a threat to democracy.
“Looking critically at the budget of the country in the fight against insecurity, we must begin to tackle the root causes of this insecurity as it is a known fact that most of the thugs used by politicians are abandon after election and they move to the streets to become bandits and terrorists.
“The situation in Kogi is so obvious that the incumbent governor is leaving no stone unturned in rigging the election using thugs to unleash mayhem on the people. This must not be allowed to see the light of the day to avoid a repeat of using Helicopter to chase voters as it happened at the 2019 election.
“This is no more Buhari regime when the presidency is taking for granted by people who feel they are close to him and using his name to perpetuate all sorts of illegalities. We must move forward under President Tinubu by doing things in the right way and in a more civilize and democratic manner. That President Tinubu paid his dues to fight for democracy and this is the time for him to defend its survival,” the communiqué read in part.
The group wondered why Bello, after almost eight years as a seating governor, is still afraid to face the electorate and ask them to vote for his successor.
“The only thing he is relying on to win the election is that he is APC and power of incumbency at Federal level will be used to suppress the will of the people.
“The imposition of a candidate on APC during the party primary does not only portray him as a dictator but a failure.”
Also, the group appealed to the president not to join Bello to toy with the lives of innocent citizens of Kogi by allowing the election to hold when security can not be guaranteed.
