2023 Elections: Advocacy Group Says Election in Kogi West Was Mindless, Provocative
- The 2023 general elections continue to draw condemnations from various individuals and groups in the country
- The Kogi West Development Front says the election in its senatorial district was heavily flawed and lacked credibility
- The advocacy group stated that there was an audacious subversion of the people’s will through daylight electoral robbery
FCT, Abuja - The Kogi West Development Front (KWDF) has said the election in Kogi West Senatorial District during 2023 presidential, and National Assembly elections was a heist.
According to the advocacy group, the exercise was an audacious subversion of the people’s will through daylight electoral robbery during the exercise.
Source: Original
Addressing a press briefing in Abuja attended by a Legit.ng reporter, the group's president, Alhaji Lukman Muhammadu and secretary-general, Mr. Victor Emmanuel, said such mindless act can set parts of the state on fire.
They alleged that large-scale rigging was perpetrated against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate in the district, Hon Tajudeen Yusuf, popularly known as Teejay.
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They also urged the Yahaya Bello administration and local government council chairmen to rethink the legacy they are bequeathing in the state’s historical process.
Muhammadu said:
“In spite of a massive support base across Lokoja, Kotonkarfe, Kabba, Yagbaland and other parts of Kogi West Senatorial zone where Honourable Teejay Yusuf’s laudable developmental initiatives have gained much respect over the years, unscrupulous electoral officials and few others from the state and local governments brazenly manipulated our votes.
“Why should the INEC BVAS be so horribly bypassed on such a large scale across Kogi West senatorial zone and why should a state commissioner and his team of hoodlums allegedly use hoodlums to ambush INEC officials in Kotonkarfe local government area?
“Totally and very mindlessly, they ignored possibilities of igniting massive public reactions which have only been stemmed by the strident appeals from Honourable Teejay Yusuf and his associates who counsel youth to peacefully await judicial review of the manipulated electoral process.
“We had peaceful, orderly election with widespread assumption that Teejay Yusuf whose support transcends ethnic, religious and political divides, is our collective choice; it is extremely provocative that government officials ended up subverting the people’s will with several INEC officials’ deliberate bypass of BVAS and government officials’ use of force.”
The group further emphasized the need to allow the truth to prevail, stressing that virtually every part of the senatorial district spiritedly supported Honourable Teejay Yusuf for the senatorial position.
The KWDF noted that while there are speculations that a new wave of ENDSARS protest is being planned with intentions of attracting international attention, Kogi youths must stand up for peace and democracy by not allowing the situation imperil peace and order.
Presidential election: Advocacy Group berates US govt's stance on exercise
In a related development, the Centre for Reform and Public Advocacy has criticised the United States government for congratulating the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.
According to the group, the US government should have waited for the courts to decide before sending its congratulatory message to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate.
Ifeanyi Okechukwu, spokesman of the group said the electoral commission failed to upload results from polling units in real-time as stipulated by law, hence the exercise was flawed.
Presidential election: Timi Frank asks judiciary to be courageous as candidates head to court
On his part, a former chieftain of the APC, Comrade Timi Frank, has urged the Supreme Court to uphold justice when ruling on the 2023 presidential election.
The Bayelsa-born politician stated that the elections were flawed, and it behooves on the judiciary to correct them.
He said Nigerians are heartbroken, agitated, angry and frustrated because the Independent National Electoral Commission murdered democracy on Saturday, February 25.
Source: Legit.ng
