Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja
The Forum of Former Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly (FFMKSHA) has unanimously declared its support for the governorship candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Usman Ododo, ahead of the November 11 election in the state.
The forum also tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “immediately activate relevant sections of the electoral law against candidates fanning ethnic division and stoking atomic politics in the state.
Addressing the journalists in Lokoja yesterday, the Chairman of FFMKSHA, Mr. Alhassan Salisu Adakeke, with other members in attendance, pointed out that Kogi was too central to Nigeria to be left in the hands of candidates “who are out to disunite the state” and truncate the widely acknowledged achievements of the current administration.
The FFMKSHA, which comprised the entire past lawmakers in the state from 1999 across political parties, also resolved to go back to their different communities to ensure resounding victory for the APC’s candidate.
The ex-lawmakers, who said that their decision to support Ododo followed a painstaking assessment of all the candidates on the field and the need to save the state from being dragged back to the old days of ethnocentric politics and violence.
The forum, therefore, called on the INEC to “immediately activate relevant sections of the electoral law against candidates fanning ethnic division and stoking atomic politics.
“Kogi State has remained very peaceful since the advent of the Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration and cannot afford to lose it now to desperate politicians dropping names after disrespecting the same names. Their only hope is violence.
“We hereby unanimously declare the support of former legislators to the candidacy of the governorship candidate of the APC, Ahmed Usman Ododo. Our members are resolved to work hard throughout the state to deliver him resoundingly on November 11, 2023. We have no doubt that we will celebrate our victory and the future of our dear state will be guaranteed.
“It is our desire that the revolution currently ongoing in education, health, agriculture, youth and women empowerment as well as infrastructure will continue when we elect the man who understands the development wand of the current administration. We are for consolidation. We are for continuity. We are for Ododo. We are for a united and prosperous Kogi State.”
