The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sternly cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) to desist from playing ethnic card and get ready to face the electoral consequences of the serious issue of poor governance it foisted on the people of Kogi State since 2016.
The party also warned against the recourse to violence by the governor of the state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the APC and its supporters.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, who spoke to newsmen in the course of PDP campaign inauguration in Lokoja, Kogi state capital at the weekend said that the ongoing attempts by the APC to ethnicise the November 16th governorship election are dead on arrival.
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Ologbondiyan urged Governor Yahaya Bello to get ready for his electoral defeat as he has an empty scorecard despite the over N700 billion he collected on behalf of the Kogi people from the federation account, internally generated revenue, bailout funds, ecological funds, infrastructural development funds and others.
He said that the APC administration under Bello is a complete failure and an embarrassment to the people of the state who are known in the country and beyond for their integrity and industry in all areas of human endeavours.
Ologbondiyan reminded Governor Bello to start preparing his hand over notes as the people are determined to vote him out on November 16.
He lamented that the people of Kogi state have suffered untold hardship, pain and agony under Governor Bello and the APC, adding that they are determined to take back their state with the November election
“The people of Kogi state have suffered enough under Governor Yahaya Bello and the APC. Many of our citizens have lost their loved ones and their breadwinners; they have lost husbands, wives children and other loved ones to the excruciating hardship caused by non-payment of their salary and pensions by Governor Bello. There is no way he can be re-elected”, he said.
Ologbondiyan assured that the issues of non-payment of salaries, allowances and pensions would become a thing of the past under a PDP-led administration as from January 28, 2020
He, therefore, urged the electorate to remain firm and resolute in their standing with the PDPÂ governorship candidate, Engr Musa Wada, in the collective quest to rescue the state from anti-people forces.
However, the Director-General Media and Publicity to the governor, Mr Kingsly Fanwo said Mr Kola Ologbodiyan knows the truth and there is no need to join issues with him.
Reacting to the allegations by the PDP, Fanwo noted that Governor Yahaya Bello has united the State more than any Governor before him.
“It was the PDP Candidate who said he could win with Igala votes alone. He said the Igalas have the highest population and that they can make him Governor.
“Our votes will spread across the state because EBIGO has come to say. The Igalas, Ebiras and Okuns are one and we shall never be set against one another again.
So between Bello and Wada, who is playing ethnic politics?
“They should account for the blood they spilt in their few hours in Kogi State. They should account for the properties vandalized by their imported thugs. What they failed to know is that we have a security architecture in place that will neutralize any form of criminality anywhere in the state.
“The N700b revenue claim is one of their many Dubai figures. PDP is struggling to stand after the gale of defections that hit it as droves of their members and founding fathers have rejected the controversial emergence of a man who claimed on national television that there is a Federal Medical Center in Kabba,” he said.
and then