Kogi gov’ship: Stringent campaign rules put opposition camps on edge

Barring any last-minute change, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct a governorship election in Kogi State on November 11, and will equally conduct off-season governorship elections in Bayelsa and Imo states. Sequel to this, political parties and their candidates have intensified campaigns in their bid to win the polls. In Bayelsa, the leading […]

Barring any last-minute change, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct a governorship election in Kogi State on November 11, and will equally conduct off-season governorship elections in Bayelsa and Imo states.

Sequel to this, political parties and their candidates have intensified campaigns in their bid to win the polls.

In Bayelsa, the leading opposition APC has consistently said it would dislodge the ruling PDP in the state. The APC, which is the party in government at the centre, is equally perfecting strategies to retain power in Kogi and Imo.

But while the campaigns have kicked off, pundits say Kogi will be the hottest state to watch considering the unfolding drama, twists, turns and intrigues so far recorded.

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This is especially as Governor Yahaya Bello has intensified winning strategies for the APC and its candidate, Ahmed Ododo, who is tipped to succeed him on January 27, 2024.

The choice of Ododo as the APC candidate following Bello’s backing did not go down well with some stakeholders of the party in Kogi East and West, and this is one of the factors analysts say will make the contest more scintillating.

Intense campaigns

At the moment, political parties and their candidates are crisscrossing the state selling their programmes and manifestos to the citizens in an attempt to convince them on why they should be elected into power.

But while the campaigns are on, many of the parties are raising alarm over what they describe as unfavourable policies, rules and moves by the ruling APC in the state to make things difficult for them. The opposition is accusing the ruling party of plots to witch hunt them.

But the APC has consistently defended itself, saying some of the rules are not new and were aimed at sanitising the system for decorum to prevail and to ensure rancour-free campaigns.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that even though 18 political parties are fielding candidates for the election, only five are so far visibly on ground.

The frontline candidates and their parties are: Alhaji Usman Ahmed Ododo (APC); Muritala Yakubu Ajaka (SDP); Senator Dino Melaye (PDP); Hon Leke Abejide (ADC) and ex-Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Usman Jibrin (AP).

Of these five candidates, Ajaka has consistently raised alarm over his alleged ill-treatment or witch hurt by the APC. His case is unique because he was in the APC before he defected.

Ajaka was the APC deputy national publicity secretary, but when he noticed that Governor Bello was with Ododo as his anointed candidate, he defected to the SDP and secured the opposition party’s ticket to run.

Kogi East explores consensus

The Kogi East Senatorial District had constituted a committee led by the Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Gabriel Aduku, to X-ray the candidates of the various political parties in the zone and come up with one that would defeat Ododo.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that Kogi East has the highest number of LGAs (nine) with the highest voting population in the state, as well as the highest number of candidates in the race. The zone is known for its far-reaching decisions in elections because of its voting strength.

Ajaka was unveiled at an event in Abuja, attended by some candidates of various political parties from the Igala-speaking axis (Kogi East) who stepped down for him to slug it out with Ododo who is from the Ebira ethnic extraction.

Unveiling Ajaka, Aduku appealed to the other contestants and their supporters to work for his victory.

Candidates of other parties who then stepped down for Ajaka from Kogi East are Arc Isah Dauda (APM), Onaji Sunday Frank (APP), Dr Elukpo Julius (ADP) and Dr Abdullahi Bayawo (PRP).

But aggrieved candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Okeme Adejo; All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Idoko Ilonah; and the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Sam Omale, who are also from the zone, were absent.

The move has continued to create tension as pundits say the APC sees Ajaka as a major threat in the election.

Stringent campaign rules

The General Manager (GM) of the Kogi State Signage and Advertisement Agency, Hon Richard Osaseyi, had served a notice to political parties and others concerned for servicing of outdoor advertisement to avoid demolition of their signposts.

He said, “All owners of billboards and banners displayed in public places are enjoined to proceed to the agency to pay all the prescribed fees required by the agency for the continual use of these advertising platforms.”

He urged all political parties, religious organisations, support groups, business owners and others to comply with the directive, saying defaulters would be made to face the consequences of their actions.

Osaseyi further said that anyone affected by the notice was to comply within seven days, stressing that after the expiration of the seven days all signposts, billboards and banners without the approval of the agency would be defaced at the cost of the owner.

This directive did not go down well with the opposition political parties involved in the campaigns as they claimed the order was a move by the ruling party to deny or muzzle them out of the right to display their own banners, billboards and campaign posters.

In a statement, the PDP said, “The campaign decrees recently issued under the guise of guidelines for the use of campaign materials by the administration of the APC and Governor Yahaya Bello in Kogi State is a vexatious, undemocratic and unrealistic attempt to evade contest, constrain the democratic field and stir-fry other political parties out of visibility before the November 11, 2023, governorship election in Kogi State.

“The PDP rejects the obnoxious and draconian imposition of a general payment of N5,000,000 for outdoor campaign materials, N2,000,000 for every billboard, N1,000,000 for every banner deployed and another N50,000,000 to be deposited as caution security.

“The PDP, which has deployed over 50 banners in each of the 21 local government areas of the state, will be expected to pay N1,050,000,000 as signage fee alone.

“The guidelines were conceived in bad faith and out of tune with contemporary democratic ethos. The PDP, as a lawful party, will not subject itself to any rule that is contrary to the laws of the federation.”

But an APC stalwart, Oladele Tunji, said the signage law was not new, arguing that it was in operation before the 2023 general elections, and therefore accused the opposition of “trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.”

He further said, “The signage law did not originate from Kogi State; other states in Western and Eastern parts of the country enacted and operate the same law. It’s not a new law; why the noise about it?”

It’s expected – Analyst

A political analyst in the state, Dr Ocheni Adejo, who spoke with our correspondent, said the clash between the ruling party and the opposition was expected since everything was tailored towards “grabbing” political power.

He said, “Governor Yahaya Bello, like any other leader in his shoes, would put everything into the game to ensure the candidate of his party coasts home to victory in the November governorship election. It’s natural and a show of good leadership.

“The opposition parties should expect all kinds of rules, regulations and twists, just anything in the days ahead. It’s not going to be a milk and butter thing, but a hard game with booby traps coloured in different dimensions.”

Rising violence

Daily Trust Saturday learnt that apart from the signage law, the opposition is worried over increasing political violence in the state, alleging threats of arrest of their members over “imaginary” allegations.

According to them, most of the victims are members who dumped the ruling party for the opposition parties.

Last week, the Kogi State chapter of the SDP alleged that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Berthrand Onuoha, initiated a plot to frame up some SDP members in the state with fictitious allegations and arrest them.

The Director of Communications of the SDP candidate, Muritala Yakubu Ajaka Gubernatorial Campaign Organisation, Faruk Adejo-Audu, made the allegation in a statement.

He said the Commissioner of Police allegedly acting on the directive of the rival party and powers that be had concluded plans to come out with “All manners of trumped-up offences to enable him embark on a massive crackdown on our supporters.”

The opposition party further alleged that the planned attack was targeted against party members who recently dumped the APC.

The SDP said, “The plotters have supplied a roll call of major supporters of Alhaji Ajaka to Mr Unuoha, the Commissioner of Police, who is set to deploy a squad of policemen supported by the rival party’s thugs, for the assignment.

“We are by this statement calling on the Inspector General of Police, the Police Service Commission and the Minister for Police Affairs to step in and save our souls.”

But the Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Mr Onuoha, dismissed the claims by the SDP.

In a statement, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the command, SP William Aya, described the allegation as: “Totally false, malicious, pretentious and highly mischievous and remained a figment of the imagination of Faruk Adejoh-Audu and his political candidate, Yakubu Ajaka.”

It added, “The SDP candidate and his campaign organisation should leave the police alone and focus on issue-based campaigns and soliciting for support from the electorate instead of resorting to cheap blackmail, bullying and arm-twisting for political sympathy from the public.”

Similarly, the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralph Okey Nwosu, alleged in a statement on Wednesday that the plot to arrest, detain and distract Hon Leke Abejide, the candidate of the party, by security operatives on criminal charges had been hatched.

He said, “The shenanigans are orchestrated as part of the attempt to scuttle his home coming this weekend, whose reception programme has been organised and embraced by thousands of his supporters to expand the campaign.”

But Abdullahi Mohamed, a chieftain of the APC, said, “In a contest where politicians see it as a do-or-die affair, either of the parties involved could devise any means to sway public perception to their cause.”

Our correspondent further reports that the ongoing campaigns are characterised by violence, intimidation and destruction of campaign offices and property in some areas.