The Kogi State Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Dino Melaye, has raised alarm over an alleged plot by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to unleash violence in Kogi State to force their will on the people during the November 11, elections.
Melaye said this at a media briefing in Abuja, on Thursday. He was addressing the media to “alert Nigerians and the International Community of heinous plots by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to use thugs to unleash violence against the people of Kogi State, in an attempt to weaken their resolve, knowing that the APC and its governorship candidate in Kogi State, as well as his godfather, Yahaya Bello, have been rejected by the people ahead of the November 11, 2023 governorship election in the State.”
He further said, “Intelligence available to our campaign is to the effect that the APC has sewn fake Police Uniforms (camouflage) which have already been brought into Kogi State and ready to be distributed among APC thugs to parade as policemen and unleash terror on innocent Kogites on election day.
“Further intelligence exposed that the thugs are allegedly being imported from Kwara, Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States under the official cover by the Yahaya Bello administration to unleash mayhem and disrupt the peaceful conduct of the election, having realized that there is no way the APC can win in a peaceful, free, fair and credible electoral process.
“We have been made aware that the thugs from Kwara State. This gang was responsible for the mayhem that occurred in Aiyetoro-Gbedde where my nephew was killed.”
“We implore security agencies to take immediate note of these issues and arrest this situation by calling violent prone APC leaders to question.”
Melaye asked Nigerians to hold the outgoing governor and APC leaders responsible for any killing, sudden disappearance of persons and election violence in the November 11, 2023 governorship election.
The PDP, he said was demanding a free and fair election where the vote of every Kogite will count.
He declared, “The tide is clearly in our favour as the people are solidly behind us. We counsel and caution Yahaya Bello and the APC to accept the fact of their rejection and their colossal defeat on November 11.”