Kogi APC alleges intimidation, security lapses

Plateau guber candidate reassures council heads 

KOGI State coordinator of the Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organization, James Ocholi, has alleged that the PDP was replacing official security with thugs disguised as conventional security agents, stating that it portends danger for the forthcoming election.

   Ocholi told newsmen in Lokoja over the weekend that hoodlums have been on the prowl, unleashing mayhem on the APC in Anyigba and Dekina local councils. 

   According to him, “the peace we desire under which people can vote freely is being threatened and the greatest challenge we have now is that those who ought to make the arrest and keep these boys out of the streets to prevent them unleashing mayhem on the people have not yet risen to the occasion. 

   “It is a very dangerous situation and we know that it can be stopped, they are not above the law. If law enforcement agents do not do their job, the boys will have a field day.”

   He further alleged that the boys were put together by some government officials and given official vehicles without plate numbers to make them look like a security arm of the PDP and drive within towns.

   However, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Mr. Jacob Edi, has swiftly debunked the allegation as unfounded. Wondering which faction of the APC the coordinator belongs, Edi challenged Ocholi to finish dealing with the factionalization of his party before dragging the PDP into non-existent issues.

   Meanwhile, the Kogi APC at the weekend received some defecting influential and founding members of the PDP into its fold during the Anyigba grand rally.

   Among them were former governorship aspirant on the platform of PDP, AVM Salihu Atawodi, Senator Nicholas Ugbane, Senator Dangana Ocheja, former Accountant General of the state and senatorial aspirant, Ubolo Itodo Okpanachi, former chairman of the teaching service commission, Malam Sani Ogu, and former Rep, Samson Ihiabe.

   Ocholi said their defection marked the “turning point in the defeat of PDP in the next election. This has swept over Kogi East, which has been the predominant area where PDP usually has its block votes. The wind of change is blowing and Igala land has joined.”

   In another development, the APC governorship candidate in Plateau State, Simon Bako Lalong, has promised not to tamper with the current democratically elected local council chairmen.

   Addressing a rally at Bokkos, Mangu and Kanke councils at the weekend, Lalong argued that since they were constitutionally elected, meddling with their positions would be a disservice to the constitution of the country. 

   According to him, as a practicing lawyer and a two-term speaker of the House of Assembly, he has the onerous responsibility to defend the councils, and once elected, would allow the chairmen to complete their three-year tenure. He stressed that for any of them to be removed, it must be done in accordance with the provisions of the constitution of the land.