By Maduabuchi Nmeribeh
The Kogi-in-Diaspora Association (KDA) has swiftly reacted to the recent expulsion of the lawmaker representing Yagba East, Yagba West and Mopa-Muro Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Leke Abejide, from the African Democratic Congress (ADC), describing it as a great injustice to the entire people of Kogi state.
The National Leader, of the Association, Seyi Olorunsola, in a Statement, said they received the news with utmost consternation and strong condemnation.
“We wish to state unequivocally, without fear of contradiction, that this action is not only unjust, but born of hypocrisy, political avarice, and a brazen hijacking of political platform by imposters lacking legitimacy, achievement, and moral standing,” the Statement stated.
According to Seyi: “Over the course of his tenure as Member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abejide has distinguished himself as a rare breed of leader: impressionable, erudite, selfless, and deeply committed to the upliftment of his people.
“Under his watch, roads long abandoned and ignored — such as the Kabba-Ilorin federal road, Ekinrin-Adde–Iyamoye road, Igbagun-Alu-Ife-Olukotun, and other rural links — have been rehabilitated or asphalted, transforming transportation and connectivity across Yagba Federal Constituency and Okunland.
“Through the Leke Abejide Foundation, he has consistently championed social welfare: paying WAEC (and NECO) fees for public and private secondary-school students across his constituency for several years; awarding scholarships to students — including medical and international-study scholarships; and providing vocational empowerment, farm tools, seedlings, fertilizers, water pumps, and livelihood grants to artisans, traders, farmers, women, youths and widows.”
KDA maintained that: “On multiple occasions, he has donated substantial resources to health, security and community infrastructure: equipping and renovating health centres, building a police station (and donating a patrol vehicle) in his hometown Alu, and providing rural electrification support among other infrastructural interventions.
“Legislatively, as Chairman of the House Committee on Customs and Excise, he sponsored the landmark Nigeria Customs and Excise Management Amendment Bill — a major overhaul of customs laws that had remained unchanged since 1958 — thereby leading significant legal reforms of national importance.
These feats, among many others, attest to his deep-seated commitment to good governance, social justice and the development of his people. His record — not mere rhetoric — speaks louder than any contrived, back-room politicking.
“The so-called “new leadership” of ADC that claims to have expelled Hon. Abejide lacks the moral credibility, developmental record, or grassroots acceptance that he commands in his constituency. Their manoeuvre reeks of desperation: by removing a shining star like Abejide, they hope to rehabilitate their battered political fortunes. That effort — this Kogi-in-Diaspora Association declares — is nothing but a pipe dream. Their political adventure in ADC will surely crash before it takes off.
“Moreover, we draw public attention to the involvement of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in this affair. The hasty recognition by INEC of the faction led by a controversial National Working Committee — allegedly under the leadership of a certain former office holder — raises grave questions about fairness, partisanship and complicity. With the current INEC Chairman also hailing from Kogi State, one cannot but perceive a deliberate attempt by Abejide’s political adversaries to disenfranchise the people of Yagba and Okunland by displacing the only federal representative who has truly championed their interests.
“This so-called “expulsion,” orchestrated by imposters — with the aid of the election umpire — is clearly part of a fifth-columnist strategy meant to rob Kogi people of effective representation, to serve narrow personal ambitions. We reject and repudiate this manoeuvre in its entirety.”
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