The antics of opposition in Kogi

Before the election proper, the PDP in the state did not take the election for granted.  Immediately after the primary election, efforts were made to reach out to all the aspirants of the party that lost out; in the same vein, all the candidates embarked on extensive campaign.The PDP, supported by the state Governor, Captain […]

Before the election proper, the PDP in the state did not take the election for granted.  Immediately after the primary election, efforts were made to reach out to all the aspirants of the party that lost out; in the same vein, all the candidates embarked on extensive campaign.
The PDP, supported by the state Governor, Captain Idris Wada, who is the leader of the party, commissioners, special advisers, senior special assistants, boards and other appointees led the train of rigourous and extensive campaigns which were flagged off in the three senatorial districts of the state. Wada charged all members of the party to work very hard for the victory of the PDP to preempt allegations that victory was manipulated.
The first place of visit was Ayingba where all the chairmanship candidates were presented with the party’s flag and also make sure that they were introduced formally to the people in Kogi East.  The governor also visited Kabba and Okene respectively.
While these were going on, the opposition parties on the other hand were busy looking for ways to stop the election. Less than 24 hours to the election, the ACN, ANPP, CPC and APGA announced their resolve to boycott the council elections.
The boycott, according to the spokesman of the opposition parties, Mr Dino Melaye, was hinged on allegation that the State Independent Electoral Commission (KOSIEC) had taken side and also that the level playing ground expected by the opposition parties was not created by the commission.
It was glaring that the ACN, ANPP and CPC never conducted primaries for their aspirants. The former governor of the state Prince Abubakar Audu who is the state leader of ACN was never at any time around either to give support or embark on campaign for any of the ACN candidates.
The violence in Mopamuro Council, the deputy governor’s base, few days to the election was allegedly incited by ACN members who believed that they must win the election at all cost and that is the only area where violence was witnessed in Kogi West.
In Kogi East, only in Dekina and Ofu LGs recorded crisis before the election and the killings have nothing to do with PDP as alleged. In Kogi Central Senatorial District, which in the past was notorious for election violence, election held peacefully. Then the question is: where was Dino when Governor Wada, despite coming from hospital bed not long ago, embarked on campaigns for his party?
What the people of Kogi State have done, by the outcome of the last LG polls, is simply to tell Dino and company that Kogi would not succumb to attempts by a few individuals to drag Kogi State under ACN-controlled states for their selfish means.
Zulehart Onize, Lokoja, Kogi State.