THE Media and Publicity Committee of Bello/Onoja Governorship Campaign Council has hailed the decision of the Kogi West Elders Forum to endorse the candidacy of Governor Yahaya Bello, saying the decision is a “non-partisan masterstroke to deepen our development strides as a people”.
The Spokesman of the Campaigns, Mr Kingsley Fanwo stated this while reacting to a statement by the PDP that Gen. David Jemibewon was not a part of the endorsement, insisting that the denial was a “panicky move by the PDP to save its face”.
According to him, the Kogi West Leaders Forum met with the Governor and discussed on how to improve governance in the State as well as the role they hope to play in assisting the Governor realize his Agenda Of Development for the State. The forum also commended the Governor on his developmental strides and security in the state .
He said: “Our attention has been drawn to a desperate statement by the PDP which tried fruitlessly to disparage the gains of the meeting between the Kogi West Elders Forum. The meeting was a huge success. It is a tradition that such a meeting is followed by a statement by the noble group made up of statesmen who have excelled in their chosen professions. The statement from the Forum aptly apturedc the resolutions reached at the meeting.
It is unfortunate that the PDP was desperate to harass Gen. David Jemibewon (Rtd) to disown the resolutions even though the Statesman attended the meeting as a Kogi West indigene. The endorsement of the Governor is not partisan but patriotic as members belong to different political parties and ideologies.
“To the Elders, the second term ambition of the Governor represents equity and hope that the state will continue to oscillate on the rotor of justice and fairness. The Kogi West Elders expressed determination to key into the Unity Agenda of the present administration in the State.
“We commend the historic and patriotic decision of the Kogi West Elders to support the second term project of the Governor and wish to assure the people of Kogi State that the Governor will do more in his second term”.
Fanwo urges the PDP not to “politicize patriotism and statesmanship”, warning that the PDP needs to key into “the new Kogi State where everyone has equal chance to contribute to her development”.
He said the PDP does not stand any chance in the upcoming Governorship election, alleging that the PDP was responsible for the destruction of the State.
“They destroyed our security, civil service, health sector and oversaw the mindless larceny of our resources without compunction. In saner climes, they would not have insulted our common intelligence by bringing the brother of the man who destroyed the state between 2012 and 2016 to continue the destruction”.
On the suit filed by Natasha Akpoti seeking the disqualification of the Governor over allegation of double registration, Fanwo said the organization has refused to join issues with the “attention seeking woman”, saying the suit is another waste of time and resources by the “disqualified SDP Governorship aspirant”.
“She is on a mission that cannot see the light of the day. She is a lawyer and she is asking the court to disqualify a candidate based on mere allegations that was not determined to be true by any competent court of jurisdiction.
“It is also strange for a lawyer to ask the court to act over an allegation that she also prayed the court should compel INEC to investigate. Nothing typifies confusion the more”.
