2019: Kogi PDP Chieftains Petition INEC, IGP, Others Over Gov’s Excesses

Chieftains of the Kogi State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, called on the National Peace Committee (NPC), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Mohammed Monguno (rtd) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to prevail on the State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to give peace a chance ahead of the general elections slated for February 16 and March 2, 2019.
The PDP chieftains stated this at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday.
Led by former governor of the state, Ibrahim Idris, they accused the state governor and the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of intimidating and harassing PDP members, saying unless something urgent was done, the state could be plunged into a crisis of unimaginable proportion.
Chairman of the PDP in the state, Engineer Sam Uhotu cited a number of violent skirmishes in the past few months which he allegedly traced to the state government, noting that even though the PDP did the right thing by reporting same to security agencies, no action has been taken till date.
“We humbly call on the National Peace Committee under the eminent leadership of General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Inspector General of Police, National Security Adviser, Service Chiefs, Civil Society Organisations and the International Community to pay special attention to the veritable flashpoint which Kogi has become in the forthcoming elections, and to prevail on the state Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, to desist from promoting state-sponsored violence in order to spare the innocent people of the state from the inexorable catastrophe that is now unfolding like a Greek tragedy.
“There is a worrisome pattern of intimidation, harassment, unprovoked disruption of political meetings and gatherings which invariably involves the infliction of injuries to our party members and innocent citizens.
“It also involves the destruction of campaign materials of opposition party candidates like posters, banners and bill boards all over the state. These incidents of violence and thuggery have become more brazen, dangerous and rampant in all the three senatorial districts of the state in the last few weeks,” they noted.