Richard Elesho
The Kogi State chapter of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, has denied reports of mass defection from the party, describing them as crude, dishonest, and part of the antics of desperate politicians ahead of the 11 November governorship election.
State Publicity Secretary of the party,
Yahaya Bahawudeen, in a statement, said it was curious that the story was scripted from Government House Lokoja, described it as fiction, and wondered why it was not supported by any pictoral or video evidence.
While insisting that no single member of the state EXCO had dumped the party, Bahawudeen said the story is part of the crude campaign of falsehood aimed at disparaging the SDP and its candidate, Alh. Murtala Ajaka. He accused the government of concocting and spreading fake news against the SDP.
“These are crude fakeries concocted by the desperate renegade in power in Kogi by the name of Yahaya Bello, who has engaged in every known act of dishonesty and violence to desecrate the exalted office he occupies.
“For a governor who Photographs every visitor that as much as set foot in his Abuja Residence (which has been the defacto Kogi Government House in the last eight years ) to use for blackmail and information manipulation how come the entire Executives of the SDP met him to decamp and eulogise him and there’s no single pictorial or video record of such a momentous event?
“No single member of the executive of the SDP in Kogi has decamped or defected to the APC. The name of the Zonal Chairman of Kogi East is Pastor Sunday Atabor; That of Kogi Central is Musa Salawu Odogba, while the Zonal Chairman of Kogi West District is Hon Emmanuel Adebayo A.
“All these Zonal Chairmen and the LG Chairmen are not only steadfastly in the party but they are by the grace of God leading the charge to dislodge Bello and his cabinet of gangs of thugs from the governance of our dear state.
“The names Suleiman Isah and Zubairu Ibrahim given as Zonal Chairmen of Kogi East and Central, which was contained in Mr Bello’s press statement, are fictitious
“These are not existing human beings, and we challenge Mr Bello to produce them to contradict us.
“We call on media houses to be circumspect of stories emanating from the stable of this criminally deluded governor who can no longer tell the difference between reality and fiction.
“We call on the good people of Kogi State to ignore Mr Bello’s desperate falsehoods. Neither his acts of sustained violence of his newfound pass time for falsehood will save him, and his puppet from a disgraceful defeat come November 11, which is exactly three months from today.