SODA protests Bello’s emergence as Kogi governor-elect

A group, ‘Save Our Democracy Advocates’ (SODA) at the wekend protested in Ilorin, Kwara state, against the outcome of the just concluded Governorship election in Kogi state that produced Alhaji Yahaya Bello as Governor-elect.

Members of the group carried placards condemning the choice of Bello by the All Progressive Congress (APC) as replacement for the initial candidate of the party, Alhaji Abubakar Audu who died on the day of the election.

Some of the placards read: “Professor Jega Come Back”,  “APC Is Going the Way of PDP”, “APC: Don’t Rob Peter to pay Paul”,

“Nigeria is not Banana Republic” and “Section 187 (1) is Supreme to any other Act”.

Earlier at a press conference, Coordinator of the group, Comrade Taiwo Otitolaye said members were concerned that sustaining the current situation in Kogi state would only lead to a constitutional crisis that can truncate the democracy many Nigerians fought hard to attain.

He said: “Given our antecedents in the struggle for the dismantling of the military hegemony, our fight for democracy, the civil rule we currently enjoy in Nigeria, we cannot be silent on the Kogi state election impasse created by the diabolical exigency and treachery of the APC, AGF, INEC and the Buhari regime.

“The Kogi electoral brigandage as perpetrated by the APC, the Presidency, INEC and the AGF is the sore of our nation. The Kogi impasse is a critical stage and part of our constitutional and political development in the annals of our nation-building. As such we must all rise to protect our common destiny.

“The APC as a party without Audu/Faleke cannot stand election as an amorphous entity; it is their joint ticket that qualified the party. More so, election has been contested and won on November 21, 2015 and Faleke remains the custodian of the people’s mandate with the exit of Audu, his principal.

“For Yahaya Bello to be declared the Governor-Elect on Supplementary votes of 6,885 is the height of electoral fraud admissible only within the confine of the ethos of Banana republic. Subjugated victory cannot be the way forward. The people must act in unison to unmask the conspirators against our collective political destiny. We must resist the attempt to ambush and swindle the people’s mandate.

“If some people don’t want to see Faleke as an individual, they should go and settle their personal scores; personal issues should not be used to scuttle our democratic process. The APC will soon die a natural death if it continues to plod this path of treachery and political xenophobia. Nigeria and Nigerians cannot be hoodwinked into so-called party supremacy hinged on treachery and under development.

“SODA calls on civilised Nigerians and responsive democrats all over the world to rise to the ugly situation in Kogi state. This call became important because we are at the darkest hour of our democracy. We either get it right or somersault and this will continue to plague the nation.”