Call Yahaya Bello to order, Kogi SDP candidate urges President Tinubu

The leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi, on Sunday, appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in Kogi to maintain law and order.

Moses Peter, Kogi SDP Chairman, made the appeal in a statement he personally signed in Lokoja, deriding what he described as “deliberate attempt” to overheat the state’s polity.

“We call on Mr. President to promptly prevail on state government to allow the free will of the people of Kogi to manifest by exercising their rights to freedom of association.

“Let the security operatives be bold enough to arrest the perpetrators of the ugly attack on our Governorship Candidate and his supporters, in order to forestall future occurrence.

“SDP is also aware of a plot to arrest our supporters on trumped up allegations of arms bearing, thuggery, terrorism and kidnapping, having not been able to pin any criminality on any of the supporters of our great party,” he said.

He said some unidentified persons in security uniform had attacked the convoy of Muritala Yakubu-Ajaka, Kogi SDP candidate in the forthcoming governorship election, while on his way to Lokoja.

“Our Guber Candidate, Muritala Yakubu-Ajaka, is on a familiarisation tour to first class traditional rulers in the state, preparatory to the commencement of campaign ahead of the Nov. 11 governorship polls in the state.

“The convoy of Ajaka and his supporters were attacked close to Lokoja with his vehicle riddled with bullets, a situation which forced the convoy to retreat in order to forestall further breakdown of law and order with possible loss of lives and property,” he said.

Peter accused the state government as the mastermind of the attack against the SDP candidate and called on Nigerians and the president to wade into the precarious security situation in the state.

“This time, SDP will not standby and watch the governor, whose penchant for politics of violence, manipulation and intimidation is monumental,” he said.

The Commissioner for Information, Kogi, Kingsley Fanwo, debunked the claims of the SDP chairman, accusing him of cover up, and that it was rather SDP that launched an attack on Bello’s convoy.

Fanwo said the pretence would not help the perpetrators escape the wrath of the law for “launching such reckless and shameless attack on our peace loving governor on his way back to Lokoja from Abuja on Saturday afternoon.

“The SDP chairman knows quite well what their political thugs did to our governor. We have to raise an alarm over that so that the world will know about it.

“Residents of Kogi know that governor Bello means well for the state through his security track records and developmental achievements in the last seven years of his administration.”