Six of the seven aspirants that participated in the All Progressives Congress Governorship (APC) primary election in Kogi State have rejected the outcome of the polls.The aspirants who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Saturday advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the national secretariat of the APC to disregard the results.
Those in attendance at the media briefing were Senator Smart Adeyemi, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, Mr. Yakubu Ajaka and Prof. Stephen Oseni, all contestants in the primary election.
Adeyemi, who led the aspirants, and also is the senator representing Kogi West senatorial District, asserted that the governorship primaries did not hold anywhere in the state.
It is recalled that the APC had declared the former Auditor-General for Local Governments in Kogi State, Ahmed Usman Ododo, as the winner of the governorship primary election conducted across the state on Friday.
Adeyemi told journalists in Abuja that someone had been announced as the winner even before the commencement of the polls.
He said their lives were now in danger because they dared to reject the outcome of the sham governorship primary.
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The senator also said apart from the threat to their lives, some officials of the Kogi State Government had also threatened to institute treasonable felony charges against them.
According to him: “This is the worst malpractice, the unprecedented worst form of rigging in the history of Nigeria.
“The results of a governorship primary were written by a group of people.
“If there was an election and it was rigged, we would understand, but when there was no election at all and someone had the audacity to write the results and announce it.
“All the seven aspirants in the election have now resolved that the National Secretariat of the APC and the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kogi State must explain to Nigeria whether the Kogi governorship primary was held or not.
“The primary election was not conducted. The people came out because all of us mobilised our members and they trooped out in their thousands, but the INEC officials and members of the APC panel from the national secretariat did not come out.
“The chairman of the panel who is the governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawale, left abruptly.
“By the constitution of the APC, the chairman did not announce the result. The national secretariat is supposed to send another chairman. It is not the responsibility of the secretary to announce the results.
“However the guideline was breached and the secretary went ahead to announce the results.
“The primary election in Kogi State was a mere allocation of votes, and they also allocated votes for us because we didn’t take part. None of the seven aspirants voted.
“I have heard of the rigging of elections, but I have not heard of the new phenomenon in which we must do all that we can to stop this country.
“The APC governorship election primary was scheduled for Friday, April 14. As expected, all of us were in our various wards, having gone around quite a number of areas in the state.
“Personally, I was at home till around 12:00 noon, and I became agitated to find out why none of my boys had come to tell me that it was time to vote.
“Because, normally, I will stay and allow them to say ‘oga’ you can come now. By the time we were leaving the house around 1:00 pm, the election, of course, was supposed to be concluded by 2:00 pm. What we heard was that election results were already being announced.
“So, in essence, which I think my colleagues here would attest to, results were prepared even before the commencement of voting.
“The purported winner is the Auditor-General of the Local Government of Kogi State.
“He was the one that got the blessings of our governor. Now, we have no problem with our governor. We have a problem with the level of his involvement in this election.
“He got involved in it, and rightly so, but we thought that if you are going to sell us in the market, we should know how much you are selling us.
“In essence, if you rig the election, we know that you rigged the election, but where there was no election at all…”
Adeyemi added, “Now, Nigerians must rise up to this, and not the issue of Kogi alone. If there is any crime committed anywhere in Nigeria, and you say it does not concern you, somebody will copy it in your state. So, you must show concern. This is a rape of democracy.
“Let me equally tell our national chairman, if the APC refuses to do what is right, it will be difficult for us to campaign for our people to vote for the APC.
“There was no election. The primary election didn’t take place. It was just deceit, manipulation, and lies to make sure that they delivered the candidate of the governor who happens to be his own first cousin.
“Not only that, they are from the same ward and the same local government.
“This is our pain. Kogi is a state with highly-educated and exposed people. We cannot fold our arms. Already, there have been threats to our lives and that of our family members.
“Next week, we will get the full details and announce those who are promising to cheat us and our children. We will mention it to the Nigerian people.
“We are not going to stop this crusade. In fact, it is a struggle that is just gathering momentum. We are not going to allow it to stand, and I want to believe that the APC will not allow it to stand.”
