|
|
|
Senator warns against governorship election in Kogi
By Paul UWADIMA and James ITODO
The Chairman Senators Forum and a prominent indigene of Kogi state, Senator Alex Kadiri has said that it would be a disservice to the people of the state for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to go ahead and conduct the forthcoming re-run governorship election.
Senator Kadiri who made the observation in an exclusive interview with The Abuja Inquirer in Abuja, warned that any election in the state would be a recipe for fresh crisis and warring.
“I come from Kogi state and I am saying to Nigerians if you go to Kogi to conduct any election now you will be calling for bloodshed and Kogi has shed enough blood. The people dying are Kogi indigenes and that need to be addressed. Blood is flowing carelessly in Kogi”, he said.
He also gave reasons why the election should not take place to include the fact that the two protagonists in the race former governors, Prince Abubakar Audu and Alhaji Ibrahim Idris each have a court case challenging each others legality to participate in the contest.
“Until the court resolves these cases I don’t see how election can be successfully held in that state because the outcome could affect either of them being candidates for the race. One has accused the other of not having the right qualification for the office and if that is true that candidate would be excluded from the election,
“The other one has also accused the other of embezzlement and the availability of government white paper which has been gazetted if that is true and legal then that is another ground for disqualification,” he said.
He stated that the best option is for the court to resolve the legal tussle and the period of appeal that is likely to follow before the election could hold.
While acknowledging that INEC has the responsibility to fix the date of elections as it has done with respect to Kogi and that the electoral body fixed the date believing that there are no encumbrances on the way but the series of litigations have created encumbrances that were hitherto not there at the time INEC fixed the date for the rerun election.
Based on what INEC know now, Kadiri argues, that it should not conduct the election and that the electoral body has no choice but to stay clear from conducting the election until the lingering legal issues are resolved.
He also noted that there are security and social problem in the state that makes it volatile to conduct any credible election at this time in Kogi state.
He warned that if machineries are not put in place to assuage the feeling of the people of Kogi state and election materials are taken there to conduct election that it would be an invitation to mayhem in the state.
“These two gubernatorial candidates are known to the authorities to be the once funding violence. I read one interview last week on each of them blaming the other of funding violence I want to tell you as an indigene of Kogi state these two people are violent individuals,” he added.
The chairman, Senators Forum who is also the chairman of the Governing Council of University of Benin, challenged the security agencies to publish the list of those who have died in the past months through political violence as well as the number of houses that have been razed to the ground noting that the situation is under reported.
Hear him: “If we value human life the reasons for the death of the people of Kogi state has to be investigated first before any election”, he said.
He accused the Federal Government of lacking the courage to address the problems of political killings in the state.”They lack the courage in many things. If you say a man is corrupt and you raised over a hundred charges against him and at a point you said he has immunity to prosecute him, but the man that was handcuffed and taken to a court in Lokoja over a year ago now has no immunity what has the government done with that case?
“You see all these deceit will not carry us anywhere. We have no country to call our own except this one and we must be ready to say the truth at all times .What has happened in the case of Abubakar Audu who was handcuffed and shown on television over a year ago, what happened?.What has happened in the case at the Code of Conduct Tribunal here over six month ago and nobody is mentioning these cases any more both the judiciary, the police, the EFCC suddenly everybody is quiet”, he observed.
On the immediate past governor of the state Alhaji Ibrahim Idris wondered why the federal government has not taken him up as the chief security officer of the state at a time when several lives were lost through political violence and for him to explain his alleged roles in the violence that has engulfed the state in the recent times.
|
|
|
