TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESS BY DAVID ALFRED-DOGWO, SENIOR SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO CAPT. IDRIS ICHALLA WADA IN ABUJA AFTER YAHAYA BELLO WINS.
June 7th, 2016
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media,
We have come here today to express our gratitude to the Nigerian people for the overwhelming support that we received when it comes to the issue of Kogi State Petition Tribunal of the Gubernatorial election of December 2015
We fought a virile, strong, aggressive and very effectively on behalf of our principal, Capt. Idris Ichalla Wada former executive governor of Kogi State and we put the case to Kogites as to why we believe that he ought to remain in office for a second term.
We are very proud of the efforts of Capt. Idris Ichall Wada and of our party and we are also very proud of the efforts of every single one of those who participated during the tribunal. As a Directorate we could not have asked for anything more in terms of support and encouragement from our colleagues and comrades within the party and the people of Kogi State. I am personally very proud of my team, every single one of them; our lawyers, my officers, my advisory team and every single one of those that joined hands to help us to state our case and to sell our principal to the people of Kogi state.
It has however come to a point that we must tell the world and the Nigerian people about how we feel about the outcome of the Justice Halima Mohammed Judgement. What we will say here today is basically to reiterate and to reflect the words of our leader and former governor Capt. Idris Ichalla Wada. We start by saying that we commend and we congratulate Alhaji Yahaya Bello for winning at the first stage of the tribunal processes. We also wish to commend our principal Capt. Idris Ichalla Wada, for having the courage to concede that he has lost the tribunal and also for being able to stand up and rise above party politics and being able to speak like a statesman.
We therefore urge the people of Kogi state and our teeming supporters to stand firm and continue to support the democratic process and continue to agitate for a better Kogi while we approach the Appeal Court.
We urge them to continue to support our party the PDP as best as they can even though we lost this judgement. We ask them to co-operate with the present government and to remember that we are first and foremost Kogites before anything else until the Appeal Judgement in few months.
On the first day of the Tribunal sitting, I held a press conference in Lokoja which I told the people that more than anything else that we should try our very best to keep the peace in this country and to keep Kogi state moving forward. I also reminded them that in every stage of the tribunal there will always be a winner and a loser. It is a mark of our humanity and it is also symptomatic of the type of people that we are and who we are that when the time comes we can say we fought a good fight but we lost.
And having lost, it does not mean that it is the end to the world, it just means that we need to re-group, re-organise ourselves and begin the process all over again because another stage is here, the Appeal. And that is where we are today. We have conceded that we have lost but we acknowledge the fact that we fought a good fight. We do not have any fears about the future. We did the right thing during the first stage of the tribunal process. We have no regrets about our principal or the way in which we conducted ourselves and we will live to fight again.
Finally let me commend all our colleagues on the other side for also standing up for what they believed in. There was absolutely nothing personal as regards this Directorate or myself. I had nothing personal against anybody. I was simply doing my job for which I have no regrets and I wish them well and I sincerely hope that they will take Kogi state to a level that we can all be proud of.
May God grant each and everyone of us peace. May He watch over our state until the Supreme Court will call us back to Lord Lugard House. May He guide our principal Capt. Idris Ichalla Wada for the next five months when he will be in power again and thereafter and may He guide and lead Yahaya Bello, in the herculean task that lies ahead for him in the interim.
My prayer is that he brings our state together, heals the wounds and that he builds the bridges in terms of religion, ethnicity and region that he needs to build in order for us to make our dear state a better place and to ensure that Kogi state becomes a great nation that she is destined to be.
I want to end this message by thanking our colleagues in the press for always responding to us so quickly and for always being ready to hear our message and for putting it out there. Also those on the social media, both friend and foe, we thank you for your efforts. We thank our foes because they kept us on our toes and we thank our friends because they encouraged us and gave us hope.
May God grant you all peace and joy and may you live long and prosper.
God bless Kogi State!
God Bless Federal Republic of Nigeria!!
Signed:
David Alfred-Dogwo
(Senior Special Assistant on Communications Strategy to Capt. Idris Ichalla Wada, former Executive Governor of Kogi State).
<davidalfreddogwo@rocketmail.com>
+234 803 4768 404
