The Kogi State Government has denied any involvement in “any clandestine plan to frame anyone,” particularly those it refers to as “political Lilliputians of questionable character.”

This is stated in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, in response to reports that Governor Yahaya Bello and security chiefs were planning to suppress the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate, Muritala Ajaka.

Fanwo, however, refuted the allegations, saying that Governor Bello has no time for Ajaka and noting that the state government will not succumb to the blackmail of the unpopular candidate of the SDP.

The commissioner described Ajaka’s actions as “watery, evasive, and sympathy-seeking,” candidate, who is dipping himself in the messy mud and performing an ignominious macabre dance on Kogi citizens’ sensibilities.

He also accused Ajaka of spreading misinformation and attempting to create unnecessary hype around his candidature, emphasising Ajaka’s efforts to portray himself as a contender.

“It is important to tell Nigerians and the world that Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, the said Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, is on a blisteringly shameful agenda of whipping sentiments, spreading falsehood with reckless abandon so as to put on himself, a garment of importance and create unnecessary air around himself as a contender that he is not,” Fanwo stated.

“Kogites and Nigerians know Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, and they know that his intention is to create ethnic division and blow his own ego. We know the contenders and the pretenders, and he is not a political threat as far as Kogi State is concerned.

“The ignorance of Muritala Yakubu Ajaka and his team is such a flourishing folly, thinking that the Governor is an interested party and would therefore allow his state to become a state of anomie and lawlessness.”

Fanwo urged the security agencies to arrest the current trend by acting decisively against inflammatory statements, noting that the state government will not condone reckless statements.

He also noted that a lack of action has emboldened some political opportunists to think they can spread lies, incite the people, play the politics of ethnic profiling, and still get away with it.

“Muritala Yakubu Ajaka knows what he has done and should carry his cross boldly instead of hiding behind one finger. We have no hand in the problems that his unbridled, inordinate ambition has brought upon him,” he added.

Governor Bello, according to him, reaffirmed his commitment to the safety and well-being of all citizens, emphasising that he owes them a duty of care and security and has sworn to protect them all.

Fanwo also stated that the state government ensures the safety of all political parties and candidates while campaigning.