The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has claimed it has the support of over 70% of registered voters in 18 local governments in Kogi, saying in statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, that the party expected a landslide victory in the Nov. 16 governorship election.
The party made the claim on Wednesday in a statement ahead of its official campaign flag-off in Lokoja on Friday. “Since we kicked off our grassroots campaigns in the last few weeks, the PDP has continued to receive overwhelming support, solidarity, and endorsements from all segments of the voting population,” he said.
Ologbondiyan said the spontaneous public jubilation that greeted the retrieval of PDP’s mandate of Mr Shaba Ibrahim for the Lokoja/Kogi Federal Constituency at the Court of Appeal, reinforces the imminent triumph of the PDP in the coming election.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said 24 candidates will contest in the Kogi West Senatorial District re-run election slated for the same Nov. 16. INEC said 24 political parties had filed in 24 senatorial candidates, consisting of 21 men and three women.
Dino Melaye of the PDP was declared the winner of the Feb. 23 election by INEC. But the Kogi State National Assembly Election Tribunal on August 23 nullified Melaye’s election. His victory was challenged in court by Smart Adeyemi, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Adeyemi challenged Melaye’s victory on three grounds of irregularities, over voting and non-compliance with the electoral acts.
The three-man panel led by Justice A. O. Chijioke, in a unanimous judgment, accepted Adeyemi’s appeal and ordered fresh elections. Melaye appealed the tribunal’s ruling but lost after the Supreme Court ordered the re-election.
INEC’s Information and Voter Committee chairman Festus Okoye said that the senate election would hold simultaneously with the Kogi governorship election. Okoye appealed to the candidates and political parties to conduct issue-based campaigns. “We also enjoin stakeholders to eschew violence and avoid acts capable of creating apprehension or a sense of fear before, during and after the elections,’’ he said.
