Forum of former members of the Kogi State House of Assembly have unanimously declared their support for the candidacy of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo.
The Forum’s Chairman, Alhassan Salisu Adakeke, made known the position of the former lawmakers at a press conference in Lokoja on Thursday.
Adakeke said the Forum is made up by House of Assembly members from 1999 till 2023.
He said among the candidates jostling for the number one seat, Ododo is the most qualified, the most experienced, the most prepared and the best man for the job.
“Apart from his message of consolidation and continuity, Hon. Ahmed Usman Ododo possesses character traits of a great leader. He is accessible, humble, brilliant and devoid of the negative drama that have dotted the histories of his competitors.
“As former lawmakers, we are proud of the symbiotic relationship between the two Assemblies that worked with Governor Yahaya Bello. A good number of Laws were passed that have helped to provoke development in our dear state. The Local Government Audit Law was excellently implemented by the former Auditor General for Local Government and now the candidate of the APC, Hon. Ahmed Usman Ododo.
“For those of us who understand statecraft, we saw how the implementation was able to improve transparency and accountability in that tier of government. Ahmed Usman Ododo is greatly equipped to press the pedals of development forward when he succeeds our hugely successful Governor.
“Apart from the capacity, competence, capability, brilliance and readiness of Ahmed Usman Ododo for the task ahead, it is also pertinent to note that the Ajaokuta Steel resurgence is at the centre of the economic recovery plan of the Tinubu Presidency.
“Our state supported the election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and will continue to support him to succeed. We cannot afford to elect a mediocre into Lugard House who will be opposed to the economic plan that will make Nigeria a true giant of Africa. Kogi is too central to Nigeria to be in the hand of the opposition, not when Governor Yahaya Bello has led the ruling party into dominant victories since 2015. We will vote to keep Kogi at the centre of political reckoning in Nigeria.
“The difference between us and the usurpers, who caved in to the naira power of ethnic jingoists is that we cut across the state. This is one of the gains of the Yahaya Bello administration. We no longer pander to the flames of ethnicity, but to the bunch of unity that we have become as a people and as a state,” he said.
The former lawmakers called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately activate relevant sections of the Electoral Law against candidates fanning ethnic divisions and stoking atomic politics.
“Kogi State has remained very peaceful since the advent of the GYB administration and cannot afford to lose it now to desperate politicians dropping names after disrespecting the same names. Their only hope is violence,” he added.
Adakeke said Ododo’s his victory will further guarantee the future of the state.
