The All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council in Kogi State has accused the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) of allegedly orchestrating the purported attack on the election petition tribunal Secretary, Mr Mike David.
Akelicious recalls that the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal Secretary, Mr Mike David was allegedly attacked on Monday evening by suspected hoodlums loyal to a particular political party.
But reacting to the development, Director of Media and Publicity for the Kogi APC Campaign Council, Kingsley Femi Fanwo in a statement on Tuesday, alleged that the accusation was a desperate move by the SDP in Kogi State and ethnic jingoists to paint the state as unsafe by orchestrating supposed attacks on the Secretary of the Tribunal, Mike David.
He alleged that they plan to cover up their already exposed plans of filing a petition against the November 11 election outside the period allowed under the Electoral Act.
Fanwo, in the statement, recalled that some lawyers, from across the three senatorial districts of the state, had, in the early hours of Monday, alerted the public to the alleged clandestine plan of the SDP and its governorship candidate to file their petition through the backdoor and backdate same to circumvent the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The statement said, “It is not hard for the discerning to see through the concocted lies and warped strategy of the SDP, as the purported attack on the Tribunal Secretary was said to have occurred on the day their dubious, anti-democratic plan was exposed.
“Why was he not attacked before midnight of December 3, 2023, when the 21 21-day day window closed? Why is the SDP the first to know about the purported attack? How did they know that he was working on their so-called petition at the time he was allegedly attacked? Why has the SDP turned itself into the advocate for the Secretary? The public cannot be misled. The people know exactly what is happening.
“We have called endlessly on the security agencies in the state to act on a series of petitions before them against the criminalities being perpetrated by the SDP and its thugs all in the name of politics.
“They commit heinous crimes, kill innocent citizens, heighten tension in the state with hate speeches under a rejected ethnic agenda and turn around to play the victims through senseless propaganda. They even blatantly accuse the security agencies of committing crimes without any arrests being made.
“The inaction of the security agencies in the face of glaring atrocities being perpetrated by these desperate politicians and ethnic jingoists has further emboldened their thugs to attack the residence of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Kogi State, something that has never happened in the history of our dear state. And now, they and their collaborators in crime have conjured a “dead on arrival” script on the attack of the Tribunal Secretary.
“As we write, the lawyer, who led others to expose the SDP’s backdoor filing plans, in collaboration with some staff of the Tribunal, is being threatened by the SDP camp, even on public platforms, and this complaint is before the security agencies. When SDP threatens, they attack. That was how they threatened the Resident Electoral Commissioner and followed up their threats with a gruesome attack on his residence. Those who act within the precinct of the rule of law must be protected by the law”.
While awaiting the reports of the security agencies on the true situation of things, the APC in Kogi State, however, called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to direct the Department of State Services and the Police to leave no stone unturned in apprehending the criminals terrorizing the state and waging fruitless war against democracy.
“The Governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, CON, laid a solid foundation in terms of security. Criminals had no hiding place in the state for over seven years. We cannot at this point sacrifice these widely acknowledged wins on the slab of politics” he stated.
