Court verdict: Crisis rocks Kogi PDP as former governor’s family alleges threat to life

Following the Kogi State High Court verdict that Kogi State  People’s Democratic Party (PDP) do not have a candidate in the last Kogi Governorship election, one of the governorship aspirant, Alhaji Abubakar Ibrahim has accused a former soldier and member of the party, Captain Joe Agada of threatening his family.

He, therefore, called on the security agencies to hold Agada responsible should any evil befall his father, former governor Ibrahim Idris and other members of his family.

Abubakar stated this in a statement he issued in response to the reaction of Agada to the High Court judgement of last Thursday which declared the September 3, 2019, Kogi PDP Governorship primary inconclusive.

He said the former soldier used the judgment to ventilate an age-long hatred for his father.

“Agada’s incoherent incitement against the former governor is reckless, unfortunate and tantamount to crying more than the bereaved. Yet, the import of his recklessness and infamy is not lost on us. We, therefore, warn that should any evil befall Idris and members of his immediate or extended family, Agada should be held responsible, more so in the light of his boast that ‘his end has come.’ We call on the security agencies not to gloss over Agada’s threats, but to beam their lights on him. After all, a disgruntled soldier is not better than a criminal on the loose.

The statement said among other things Agada “doubted the Igala ancestry of Alhaji Ibrahim Idris and incited the public to an uprising against him. He said “the end has come” for Ibro and that “the only thing he deserves is to be stoned anywhere he suffices in our land.”

The statement further clarifies in part as follows: “Abubakar’s decision to seek legal redress is within the confines of his fundamental human rights as a citizen of this country. He felt cheated and rather than take the law into his hands, opted to drag his offenders to court. He did not seek to rock the boat of his political party or ethnicity as being painted by his enemies. Instead, he sought to strengthen internal democracy within the groups.

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“Agada’s description of Alhaji Idris as an ‘illiterate’ is simply turning logic on its head. The former soldier, whose mode of discharge from the Army is questionable reserves the right to hate Idris. But that right does not include maligning his character and falsifying his hard-earned profile. For the records, the former governor is an alumnus of the University of Abuja, where he studied law and graduated in 2004, one year after he assumed office as Governor of Kogi State. Certainly, a man with such pedigree is not and can not be illiterate.

“We leave Agada’s hallucinations about Idris’ origin as a product of a confused mind bent on tarring an innocent soul with his brush of destruction. We are aware that notwithstanding his pretensions, the unknown soldier is losing his temper over his inability to assume the ‘Chief of Staff’ office, which a phantom Governor, Musa Wada, allegedly promised him.

“We urge the public to dismiss the vituperation as a product of frustration and reassure that Abubakar Ibrahim will by the Grace of the Almighty God pursue the dream of retrieving his mandate from usurpers to a logical conclusion. He will not succumb to intimidation.”