The Social Democratic Party in Kogi State has challenged the State Governor, Yahaya Bello, to produce the executive members of the party in the 21 Local Government Areas of the State that reportedly defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Recall that, the State Government had earlier claimed that some zonal chairmen alongside 21 LG chairmen in the 3 senatorial districts of the State joined APC.
Reacting to the development, Tribune reported that the Kogi SDP secretary, Yahaya Bahawudeen, described the report as “despicable canard campaign” while denying the entire media report.
He said, “In another clear act of desperation of the Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello has now discarded all pretences to decency to personally commence a crude campaign of falsehood against the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its Governorship Candidate in the state Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka.
“On Thursday, Governor Bello brazenly issued a dishonest statement signed by his Press Secretary one Mohammed Onogwu claiming that the entire Zonal Coordinators of the SDP and all the 21 LGA Chairmen of the party had decamped to the APC.
“This audacious fiction by the Governor was preceded by a series of fake stories planted in the press including mainstream traditional media houses that are expected to have transcended the weakness of falling for the antics of desperate politicians.
“Some faceless blogs went to town with a disparaging fabrication to the effect that our candidate, Alhaji Ajaka had collapsed his campaign into that of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“These are crude fakeries concocted by Yahaya Bello. For a governor who photographs every visitor that as much as set foot in his Abuja Residence (which has been the de facto 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 cabinets 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 table of this 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.”
