The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the Kogi Police Command to probe Monday attack on the Secretary to the Kogi state Election Tribunal, Mr. Mike David and the recent attack on the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Gabriel Longpet.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka made the call while addressing a press conference on Thursday in Abuja.
He condemned the rhetoric of opposition figures in Kogi state who continue to inflame passion and incite strife.
Morka insisted that their actions and utterances of opposition parties after the November 11 Kogi governorship election provided a charged atmosphere for escalation of violence in the state.
His words: “Prior to Monday’s incident involving the Tribunal’s Secretary, the residence of the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr. Gabriel Hale Longpet, was also attacked on Friday, December 1, 2023 by armed hoodlums.
“These and other acts of violence in Kogi state are barbaric, undemocratic and unacceptable. The people of Kogi State deserve to live in peace and security. These sponsored and senseless acts of violence must stop.
“We especially condemn the reported attack against the Secretary of the Election Tribunal, Mike Umar David, on Monday, December 4, 2023, in very spurious circumstances. The SDP clearly has a lot of explaining to do regarding this incident. Their utterances and actions, prior to, and since, that incident, betray suspicious special knowledge of the incident.”
“We urge the Police to do so thoroughly and expeditiously, and to bring the perpetrators and their sponsors to justice”.
The party spokesperson noted that the opposition parties that contested that election, particularly the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are severely conflicted between accepting or challenging the result of the election.
He added that the candidate of the PDP, Dino Melaye, has emphatically and publicly declared his decision not to challenge the outcome of the election, according to him, because he has no confidence in the judiciary to fairly adjudicate any dispute he may bring forward.
According to him, It is worth noting, that Mr. Melaye did not also have the confidence to vote for himself during an election in which he was candidate of a major opposition party. So we must accept that Dino is very equitable in his “lack of confidence”, and, indeed, lacking confidence in himself.
Morka stressed that the fact remains that Dino did not go to court because he has absolutely nothing to stand on by way of evidence, other than his vituperations in the media space.
He recalled that the candidate of the SDP, Murtala Ajaka, stated, on national television, that he would not challenge the election, for reasons similar to that advanced by his opposition counterpart, Melaye.
“In a sudden u-turn, Ajaka, is now reported to have changed his mind and now intends to bring a petition before the Election Petition Tribunal, even though it appears that he is out of time to validly do so. However, we will leave that for determination by the courts.”
Morka noted that rather than carry out comprehensive evaluation of the reasons they were rejected at the polls, the opposition parties have continued to peddle falsehood and promote ethnic and social unrest in the state.
