A CALL ON KOGI STATE GOVERNMENT TO RESCUE COMRADE KUNLE OLA AND FIANCEE FROM THE DEN OF KIDNAPPERS

I was reliably informed yesterday of the unfortunate abduction of one of our students leaders from Kogi West Comrade Kunle Ola and his fiancee Miss Ayanfe Toluhi while returning from his grandma's burial at Odo-Ere.


Comrade Kunle Ola and fiancé was reportedly kidnapped between Iluhagba and Aiyetoro in Ijumu local government area of kogi state, the sad story of the event is that, while a call was put across to one of his brothers, it was revealed that the abductors suspected to be Fulani men had initially demanded for the ransom of 20m and 10m respectively for both of them to be released.

The fact is, Comrade Kunle Ola is a very known Person for his peaceful conduct and his friendly attitude who love and care for all especially the students. I had watched this same Comrade helping students to pay school fees bill and others. It would be so sad should a man like this be held in a particular place by kidnappers for no just cause.

I am using this moment to as matter of urgency, call on the administrator of Ijumu Local government who double as the Chief security officer of the LG Hon Taofiq Isa to partner with the state government and other relevant agency to aggressively swing into action by rescuing Comrade Kunle Ola and his Fiance Miss Ayanfe Toluhi from the den of Kidnappers.

I also urge the state government to use every power at its disposal to stem the activities of the vicious and notorious kidnappers and further bring them to justice, this will discourage the activities of these deadly kidnappers in the state.

I wish Comrade Kunle Ola and his fiancee God protection till he gain his freedom, nothing shall happen to the son who enjoy the torrent grace of God.

Temibi Samuel is a Son from Ijumu Local Government

Kogi Guber 2019: Joseph Erico Ameh: Unmasking A Security Giant With A Bold Plunge Into Politics

Ralph Omololu Agbana, Lokoja

With the February and March Federal and State elections off the rader, focus now shifts to Kogi, the only state where governorship election is pending and slated for last quarter of this year. With no prejudices to other registered political parties,  the race is expected to be a two-horse race between the ruling APC and main opporesition PDP. As it were, Governor Yahaya Bello in the interim,  enjoys the status of a lone known aspirant in the APC angling to succeed self even so that he is reportedly up against opposition to his candidacy of the APC in days to come . Conversely, the PDP parades an array of aspirants. Of all, Joseph Erico Ameh appears to be the newest face in the political firmament of the Confluence State. His phenomenal venture into politics and the following he commands across the state within short period of cutting his teeth, portray an aspirant to watch out for in the 2019 guber race that  has been dubbed mother of all battles. Our reporter dug into the man Erico's background with a view to situating what the security giant is bringing to the table vis-a-vis the leadership challenges confronting his home state, Kogi.

In the views of Philip Olusesan Orebiyi, a former member of Kogi State House of Assembly, Kogi possesses brilliant minds and leaders with unquestionable capacity and enough passion to take on the serious job of liberating the state from stagnancy, retrogression and  (to) successfully oversee a massive campaign of human and infrastructural development." Through such minds, he noted, Kogi State and it's indigenes, in no distant time, stood to be transformed from a culture of poverty to a situation of better and dignified living.

According to Orebiyi, "We have sons and daughters of the soil who posses the brilliance, commitment and patriotism to harness the vast human and mineral resources we are so richly blessed with and turn the fortunes of the state to one of the best performing states in the country.

"This is not inconceivable because we have the highest number of mineral resources in the country as well as hard-working citizens who are ready to contribute their quota to the rapid infrastructural and socioeconomic development of the state.

"One of such rare personalities is Dr. Joseph Erico Ameh. A security connoisseur and business maven who hails from Etutekpe in Olamabaro Local Government Area of Kogi State. A man with a detribalised, unassuming, and empathic disposition who is driven by the sheer desire to succeed and impact positively lives and his environment altogether.

"Erico is the MD/CEO of a well known security outfit christened Real Strikers Security Services Limited (RSSS), that has its head office in Lagos and branches across the nation. He attended several security management related courses in Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, Brazil and the United States.

"His vast qualifications, exploits and experience in the field combined has earned him membership of several local and international associations among which are: Fellow of International Institute of Professional Security (IIPS); National Institute for Industrial Security (NIIS); Association of Licensed Private Security Practitioners of Nigeria (ALPSPN); International Professional Security Association (IPSA), United Kingdom; Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) among others.

"Real Strikers Security Services (RSSS) has a workforce of over 9, 000 people, with a large chunk of this number being qualified and competent indigenes of Kogi State. This is a simple but crisp demonstration of the desire to tackle unemployment problem in the state; albeit in a private capacity.

"Erico has travelled far and wide, internally and internationally and has acquired an impressive bank of knowledge and understanding of the political, leadership and developmental challenges of the people and state. He is an accomplished expert with a wealth of experience that will undoubtedly prove invaluable in the piloting of the affairs of Kogi state."

A staunch  member of the PDP, Dr. Erico has been pivotally involved in the party’s quest to provide Kogi State with efficient leadership across the state. He has been instrumental to PDP’s activity in the state through funding of party activities and donation of vehicles and other items to strengthen the party’s structure across the 21 Local Government Areas of the state. This is to go along with his nonpartisan philanthropic projects that has touched the lives of many people.

According to Orebiyi, for the citizens of Kogi State, they are at a juncture in their political destiny where they must demonstrate their discontent with the mediocre leadership "that is being undeservedly shoved down our throats; we must repulse self-serving and thieving politicians whose priority is to line their personal purses with our commonwealth when they ascend power through our franchise as electorate.

"Our state is blessed with abundant mineral and human resources such that we have no business being one of the poorest and least performing states in Nigeria. If we are to attain the socioeconomic advancement that we so crave and deserve, we must jettison politicians who have so far demonstrated their lack of competence and empathy for the people and look to fresh, passionate and competent leaders such as Dr. Joseph Erico Ameh.

"Joseph Erico Ameh is the name we need to take very seriously as we struggle to attain far-reaching and sustainable socioeconomic development in the Confluence State".

OPINION: BEYOND EMOTIONS, BUT THE TRUTH

I am not comfortable writing this but will be happy to be truthful as long as it's to the benefit of Kogites. I know people will call me tomorrow to ask questions about this writeup but I need to do this for the wellbeing of Kogi people. I need to do this to be comfortable with my conscience.

DINO MELAYE IS THE BEST CANDIDATE PDP can present to take Yahaya Bello off his Lugard seat in Kogi state.

I am not a fan of Dino Melaye and will never be his fan until he changes his childish attitude to life and which I have criticized on this platform severally. Kogi people are obviously tired of Yahaya Bello's crude, insensitive and autocratic way of governance. They urgently desired a change of government, they don't just need "anybody" to correct the anomalies in the state but a strong voice that can match Yahaya Bello, they need a radical and confrontational personality that can give Yahaya Bello political high blood pressure and unseat him for Kogi people to heave a sigh of relieve......... Who can PDP present that has the popularity, the charisma, the will, the effrontery and the political sagacity to weigh Yahaya Bello down?

I am not happy writing anything in favour of Dino Melaye because of his lifestyle that depict him less than a mature and organized personality who prefer showoffs and making the loudest noise in the National Assembly about things that can't directly benefit his people but the truth must be told at all times, Dino can proudly point to constituency projects that have direct impact on his people than Yahaya who is a seating Governor in Kogi state today.

Yahaya Bello is loud but Dino is louder, Yahaya Bello is stubborn and rugged but Dino is a "cockroach" that you can't just flush down your toilet with a bucket of water. Yahaya Bello has wasted his time making Dino so popular in Kogi state, He practically marketed Dino to a political limelight and Dino needs to take that advantage NOW to becoming the next Governor of Kogi state. Dino is not a nice guy, He only took advantage of Yahaya Bello insensitivity to be this popular in Kogi state and someone should tell him to be smart enough in taking his chances now. Dino won his last Senatorial election not because his people love him that much but because people hate the governor with passion. What happened in the last kogi West Senatorial Election between Dino Melaye and Smart Adeyemi was a pure protest vote against the seating governor.

Let me warn PDP in Kogi state, if you guys are serious, ready and really want to unseat Yahaya Bello, don't bring up a gentleman or a Lilly-livered candidate to contest against Yahaya Bello. What you PDP needs is a lousy, stubborn, radical, vocal and someone who understands Yahaya's game from onset........"omo ina lan ransi ina"

I am saying this because I will rather spend my time correcting Dino of his lousiness than see people dying of hunger in my state.......between black and red Devil syndrome.

Why is PDP so quiet about their governorship candidate till now, what are they scared of? Governorship election is November here and nothing seems to be going on in term of rigorous marketing of your candidate. You don't dine with the Devil if you are not his In-law. To rescue power from Yahaya is not by been quiet........."omoburuku lojotiti e", this is the time to take advantage of Dino's rascality and his bravery to get this Pharaoh out of Lugard's house.

Sincerely speaking, Dino Melaye is not my kind of best representative but I will prefer him to Yahaya Bello who is so politically disabled to know that we have left Egypt for a long time and we don't need him to return us back even if he can't advance us to promise land.

Someone should tell Dino Melaye that the Senatorial ticket in his hand is not his calling but a bigger assignment awaits him.

This is my opinion which is never a subject of inducement from any quarter but a serious move to liberate my people from the shackles of autocracy and tyranny.

Kogi state is bigger than Yahaya Bello and Edward Onoja.

I don't know the next governor of Kogi state but I surely know Yahaya Bello is not the next governor of that state.

Credit: Tunde Usman

Kogi Judiciary Director dies over 9 months unpaid salaries

Kogi Judiciary Director dies over 9 months unpaid salaries

There is palpable tension in Kogi State as a result of the death of one of the directors working in the State judiciary.

Mr. Zekery Aguye, a Magistrate and Deputy Chief Registrar (Litigation), died after losing the battle to prostate cancer.

He died at the National Hospital, Abuja, where he was initially being treated before he was forced to discontinue the treatment due to his inability to offset his medical bills.

Asked to confirm the news of the death, the Chief Registrar of the High Court, Mr Yahaya Adamu, who was practically crestfallen, narrated the pathetic and unfortunate circumstances that led to the death of the director whom he described as one of the best hands in the state judiciary.

“I am very sorry to say that even as we subscribe to the will of Almighty Allah, who gives and takes life, you and I know certainly that sometimes there are deaths that are evitable. In this particular one, we feel it may have been further delayed if we had continued to manage his ailment as we were doing in the past before the judiciary was financially grounded.”

Pressed to expatiate further, he said the battle over Mr. Aguye’s life started since two years ago when he was diagnosed of the disease.

He said with quick appropriate response and the concerted attention of the family and the judiciary, the deceased received the right and necessary medical treatment.

According to him, he was taken to the National Hospital where he was treated to the extent that he even started driving his car by himself having survived the critical period of the illness that also affected his spine.

“You see, when it all started, we thought it was one of those usual ailments. But when it became obvious that he needed to be handled by specialists we headed for the National Hospital. You will agree with me that treatment there’s highly capital intensive. So, in conjunction with the family and other well-wishers, he was revived to Allah’s glory.

“He was subsequently placed on drugs and periodic examinations by the hospital which we consistently complied with. This process costs between 400,000 and 500,000 thousand Naira monthly, depending on the result of the tests. By the grace of God and with the cooperation of the family and others we were coping with the management of the illness.

” However, we started having problems with his treatment as from the middle of last year when Kogi State Judiciary started facing funding crises. At this point, his salary, allowances and even the little assistance the judiciary was giving him ceased to come. The care suddenly became the exclusive responsibility of the wife and the family alone.

“You’ll surely agree with me that couple with the children’s demands, it will be difficult for the wife to bear this enormous burden. As a matter of fact, before he finally gave up the ghost, he was withdrawn from the National Hospital for lack of fund! It’s at the critical point of his death that he was rushed back to the hospital by which time, it was already too late.

“So I will like to use this medium to ask well-meaning Nigerians to plead with His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, to save Kogi judiciary and the state from similar calamities by releasing the judiciary funds so we can pay the nine months we are owing our workers. As I speak with you, many others are hospitalized, their children withdrawn from schools and some even homeless resulting from tenancy problems with their respective landlords” the Chief Registrar added.

As he declined to comment on the industrial action declared by the Kogi State chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), DAILY POST sought the views of the Chairman, Comrade Emmanuel Waniko, who also felt that Mr Aguye’s death cannot be entirely divorced from the non-payment of judiciary workers’ salaries since July 2018 which now amounts to nine months.

He said the union was still shocked and mourning the unexpected demise of the director. He said nobody in the judiciary would have contemplated losing him now when he was believed to have survived the critical period of the illness and was recuperating.

Linking the death to the ongoing strike resulting from unpaid salaries, he recalled the content of the affidavit he deposed to in the case instituted against Governor Bello and the state Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Nasiru Ajanah, at the National Industrial Court by the union before this tragic incident.

He noted that he had stated there that “the staff of Kogi State Judiciary are hungry, sick and disillusioned without any hope as to know when the subventions will be released to pay their salaries and emoluments.”

To buttress that, he asked: “So, is this kind of condition not traumatic enough for even the healthy not to talk of somebody just recovering from such a sickness as cancer? Mark you, we have also lost, similar circumstances, Mr. Benjamin Ameloko, an Area Court Judge and Mr. Isah Salifu, a member of the Upper Area Court.”

Continuing, the Chairman said it has come to the right time that the state government realise that no amount of deliberate and systematic depletion of the Magistrates, Judges and workers of the judiciary would make the union succumb to subverting the judiciary, as an institution, to the whims and caprices of a single individual at the expense of the Nigerian constitution, the laws of Kogi State and the responsibilities given to the judiciary as the last hope of the common man.

Recalling the genesis of the three-months-old strike which commenced since December last year and the state governor’s responses so far, he said the union had no other option than to embark on the strike when after non-release of subventions for payment of salaries and overhead costs for six months, workers could no longer go to work and offices were no longer conducive for working due to lack of basic working materials like stationery.

He said the union was surprised to hear the governor mention, during his budget presentation in January 2019, after being owed six months salaries resulting in the declaration of the strike in December, that the issue of table-payment or staff data capturing became conditions upon which staff would be paid their legitimately earned salaries.

He said the state government has refused to pay judiciary its subventions and have demonstrated that neither the plight of judiciary workers nor the citizens suffering from the closure of the courts mattered by blatantly refusing to constitute any negotiation team with JUSUN as obtained in sane climes.

“Instead, the governor chose to further abuse our sensibilities on 8th March 2019, the second time he Will speak on the strike, in the text of his address to the people of Kogi State on the eve of the State’s House of Assembly election.

“To us, it is the peak of insensitivity and man’s psychological oppression and inhumanity to man when you owe somebody his legitimate due and you keep asking the person to tow a particular path before you will pay him!

“This, to us, is unacceptable especially when you know very well that the path you have asked for is illegal and unknown to law. When you are the one that constituted the Judicial Service Commission that is saddled with the responsibility of constantly verifying the composition of the judiciary workers which it is doing periodically, how do you turn around to usurp that power from them?

“If I may ask, if it is not a deliberate and calculated design to punish the judiciary and its workers without provocation, when has it become the responsibility of the state’s House of Assembly to intervene in industrial matters? When we were agitating for N30,000 minimum wage or when ASUU declared strike did the Federal Government resort to the National Assembly or it constituted negotiation teams on the two occasions? That’s sincerity of purpose if I may say.

“But in our own case, and after owing us for eight months and aware that our members are dying of hunger and sickness and cannot pay school fees and house rents, the governor said, just to further torture us mentally, that our salaries are in the bank and if we want it, we must first obey his command. You know what it means if you put some maize in a cocked but transparent bottle and you ask the chicken to feed from it? That’s exactly what he means.

“We are yet to know how our request for unpaid salaries amounts to politicization nor how our insistence on respect for the rule of law and separation of powers translates to “politicization of institution” except there’s something else we don’t know that we’re suffering from” he said.

He also quoted the Kogi State governor saying: His Excellency also said “The refusal of the leadership of the Kogi State Judiciary to forward their staff payroll for the Pay Parade with the collusion of JUSUN leaders is well documented.”

“On our part, we’re in no collusion with anybody but we’re always prepared to abide by any rules or working conditions recommended or stipulated by the Judicial Service Commission of Kogi State which members were appointed by the governor. This is in line with the principles guiding the operations of the Federal Judicial Service Commission and the Legislative Service Commission. Asking for the take-over of our salary payment by agents of the executive connotes a dangerous motive that targets the emasculation of the judiciary which is detrimental to the fearless administration of justice in Kogi State” he said.

Comrade Waniko also maintained that rather than petitioning the National Judicial Council against the Hon. Chief Judge as disclosed by the governor, it would have been better off complying with the provisions of the constitution by releasing the funds of the judiciary to the heads of courts and allowing the Auditor-General of the state to audit the accounts of the judiciary when it is due.

“No law of this country lays any condition precedent to such release. It is, therefore, an illegality for the government to act contrary to the rule of law by keeping the funds accruing to the judiciary in the bank.

“So, as we have buried the deceased and are still mourning, we plead that if truly, “monies amounting to several months salaries due to Kogi State Civil Servants working in the Judiciary are sitting in the banks as said by His Excellency, he should kindly order the payment of judiciary subventions to avoid further agonies” the JUSUN Chairman pleaded.

Ijumu Constituency House of Assembly Mandate: A SANCROSANT WILL OF MY PEOPLE THAT CAN NOT BE SUBVERTED...

It is not out of place to remind oursleves of the sayings that ''a journey of a thousand miles starts with a step''.

Ruminating on  how this struggle started some years back, it always makes me feel satisfied and all I can say now is Glory be to God.

The journey has been unnerving, tasking and at the same time enthralling, gripping  and noteworthy.

Politically, the passion to be of assistance to my beloved people has been burning in me  since i was a child, the LEADERSHIP traits in me was also  discovered by our able leaders/ elders in my University days and I have been an  ardent follower of their foot steps..

 I have been a card carrying member of our great and people oriented party  PDP from inception  deploying my resources, time and energy to the activities of the party in  my ward, LGA, Senatorial and the State at large.

In 2015, I was appointed to serve as SSA3  {council Secretary}by the former governor of the state Alh.Idris Wada.

 I  accepted the appointment simply because of my desire to bring governance/dividends of democracy closer to my people..
Having garnered enough management, networking, negotiating, problem solving and administrative experience from my sales and marketing carrier and  with my political experience armed with the fact that it's the turn of my community to produce the next member  according to our zoning/ rotational arrangements,
I decided to contest after a wide and exhaustive consultations with the major stakeholders in my family, ward and Constituency at large.

This decision was generally accepted and encouraged by all.

Vis-à-vis this, I obtained the Application, Nomination, express of  Interest forms and went for the Primary Elections.

Going by my antecedents, pedigree and general acceptability by the masses, I won the election which was free, fair, and transparent convincingly. Having been elected as  the Peoples Democratic Party's flag bearer, wider consultations, sensitization and mobilization kick-started.


The Party, through the leaders and the candidates of National Assembly, Hon Teejay Yusuf and

Ijumu House of Assembly Mandate :A SANCROSANT WILL OF MY PEOPLE THAT CAN NOT BE SUBVERTED

Distinguished Senator Dino Melaye Campaigned vigorously for the 3 of us. We canvassed round the 15 wards in Ijumu Constituency more than 5 times, taking it from street to street and house to house.

Even though, we noticed the inactive/passive  campaign nature of other Candidates/Parties, we continued with our aggressive grassroots mobilization.

As the election draws closer , we started getting informations about how the ruling party was stockpiling arms and ammunition. We were not bothered believing that the law enforcement agencies will take care of that.

Unfortunately, we were wrong because during our campaign to Odokoro town, we were mercilessly attacked by the APC thugs led by Ijumu LGA Administrator with all sorts of weapons, our people sustained various degrees of injuries while some of our vehicles were damaged.

Even though, above was reported to the constituted authority, the attack did not stop as siege was laid on my town, Egbeda Egga and many PDP strongholds whisking our Strong members into detention two days to election.


On the election day, the Sole Administrator in his characteristic manner  led  five vehicles loaded with armed thugs, moving from one ward to another shooting sporadically  and  attacking voters/PDP but our people remained resolute as they continued with the process.

The worst happened at the Collation Center, INEC Office, Iyara when they came with already written results and  numerous numbers of vehicles fully loaded with weapons/explosive  and thugs.

It got to a stage when a security agent advised  me to leave the scene as they were about to announce the authentic result which favours me and my party PDP..  and I might be attacked ..

Few minutes later, the PDP Agent at the Centre called to inform me that a strange result emerged from nowhere and he was asked to signed but he refused.

He said while the argument lasted, the INEC Officials carried their bags and left without any formal announcement. They've forgotten that THE WILL OF MY BELOVED PEOPLE CAN NOT BE SUBVERTED  ..

Our results from each polling unit on form EC 8 A was collated in each ward and we won  convincingly with wide margin..

It's pertinent to let our  teeming supporters know that we won convincingly in 13 out of the 15 wards and for those of us that are familiar with Ijumu we won in  Ijumu Arin, Gbedde and Ijumu Oke.. Gbedde and Ijumu Arin has the largest number of voters and we won convincingly in these axis...

There's no gainbsaying the fact that Ijumu unanimously came together and gave us  their mandate and nobody can subvert the will of the most unanimous and united entity in Nigeria..

While we  awaits the outcome of the whole process,  I am appealing to our teeming supporters and  the good people of Ijumu  constituency to remain calm and law abiding..

The mandate  freely given  to SYNERGY YOUR  SON  cannot be stolen by anybody, no matter how highly placed and connected.

With all the  overwhelming evidences at our disposal, victory is sure , it can only be delayed for a while but certainly, IT  CAN NOT BE DENIED!

Mahatma Gandi an Indian Activist and Freedom Fighter once said " *Strength* does not come from physical capacity.it *comes* from an indomitable *will* "


My sincere appreciation goes to my party wonderful  leaders,the elites  the women, our versatile youths stakeholders, Excos, friends, members of my family, associates,, people of Ijumuland and others too numerous to mention here for the unwavering, unalloyed  and unflinching supports, your prayers, calls , messages,before, during and after the election .

By His grace, we shall sing the song of victory in a short while. AMEN!

Thank you all and remain blessed.

Otunba, Saliu, Raphael Adewale.{SYNERGY}

Faleke Didn’t Fund ADC Election In Yagba, God Gave Us Victory- Hon. Leke Abejide.

The attention of Hon. Leke Abejide has been drawn to a spurious and irresponsible petition written and signed by one Taofiq Isah, Ijumu Local Government Administrator, two other unknown elements and published in the punch newspaper of 20 march 2019 and other media platforms against Hon. James Abiodun Faleke of Ikeja Federal Constituency alleging him to have sponsored Asiwaju Leke Abejide to the hallowed green chamber representing Yagba federal constituency.

Ordinarily, we would have ignore the petition as a mere ranting of ants or rather we should have confined it to the trash bin where it rightly belong or view it as the last effort of a drawning government of APC in Kogi.

However,  to put the records straight for the unsuspecting members of the public, our teeming supporters and for the dignity and respect of the good people of Yagba Federal Constituency that trooped out in their thousands to elect the Asiwaju of Alu kingdom as their representative, it’s pertinent and we are bound to respond.

Hon. Leke Abejide, ADC House of Representative Member-Elect for Yagba Federal Constituency therefore wishes to make it unequivocally clear that Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, All Progressive Congress(APC) member representing Ikeja Federal Constituency has no input, small or big, to his victory at the just concluded National Assembly elections as alleged by Kogi APC leaders.

Hon. Leke Abejide therefore debunked the rumour making the rounds accusing Hon. Faleke of sponsoring House of Representatives candidates on the platform of African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Kogi West senatorial district during the National Assembly election.

Alleging that Hon. Leke Abejide was sponsored by James Abiodun Faleke is inaccurate, fictitious and unfounded, because, this is a man, who while in APC in 2015 spent fortune of his hard earned resources to ensure victory for Late Prince Abubakar Audu of APC.

It’s of note that Hon. Leke Abejide and supporters abandoned APC for ADC after the party leadership jettison the manifestos on which the party was formed and elected, Hon. Leke Abejide therefore worked and suffered for whatever the Kogi APC members are enjoying today.

Hon. Leke Abejide is a very successful business mogul capable of sponsoring himself.
To make it straight, Hon. Leke Abejide sponsored/inaugurated the party ADC in Yagba Federal Constituency, single-handedly sponsored himself and all other State Assembly Candidates of the party in Yagba land without receiving a dime from Hon. Faleke of APC.

Hon. Leke Abejide has always enjoy the goodwill and support of Yagba Federal Constituency through his over six(6) years unprecedented empowerment programs for widows, less privileged, students, youth and the aged spread across Yagba land and that alone earned him the landslide victory at the last National Assembly Election In Yagba land.

The sponsorship allegation at its best can be described as the figment of imagination of some few demented souls in Kogi APC who are already jittery of their diminishing popularity occasioned by failure of governance of APC in the state.

Hon. James Abiodun Faleke is from Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency  and has no political affiliation with Yagba, even the ADC Candidates from his Constituency lost to APC and PDP, one then wonder why they are crying foul.

BASSA SHOPS FOR DEPUTY-GOVERNOR SLOT IN KOGI STATE

by: David Alfred-Dogwo
Sunday March 17, 2019
+2348034768404

The people of Bassa local government area over the weekend insisted that they were ready to boycott the 2019 gubernatorial election if the existing political parties failed to field indigene as their deputy-gubernatorial candidates in the forthcoming guber election November 2019 in Kogi state.

They made this declaration when the President of the United Bassa Organization of Nigeria (UNIBON) Comrade David Alfred-Dogwo and four (4) affiliate groups in attendance visited some leaders of various existing political parties in the state.

Among leaders of political parties visited on behalf of thousands of indigenes of Bassa delegation include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Action Democratic Party (ADP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP).

It is first of its kind that the local government area located in Kogi east is taking a bold step to negotiate for Deputy Governorship slot in the state irrespective of political party. The area which has not produced Deputy Governor or Speaker since the creation of the state in 1991, has now reason to intensify efforts to produce the slot.

Alfred Dogwo who handed over the association’s protest letter entitled, “BASSA POSITION ON 2019 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION:- BASSA AS DEPUTY OR NO ELECTION”, to leaders of the political parties insisted that the area will have nothing to do with the 2019 elections if the existing political parties failed to concede the deputy gubernatorial tickets to their indigenes.

Alfred Dogwo in the letter made available to NEWS MEN added that Bassa comprises of Bassa-komu, Bassa-nge and Egbura Mozum ethic groups and that there is no way either of the tribe will not be able to produce a qualify personality for the slot of Deputy Governor. He threatened that Bassa will no longer be part of sectional politics but shall give her full support to any gubernatorial candidate that pick Bassa as his deputy be it from the east, central or from the west. He further made it clear that any political party that fails to fill their indigenes shall not be welcomed in the area.

He said, “We are determined and have resolved as well, that if none of the political parties fields any of our sons or daughters, we shall not have anything to do with the 2019 gubernatorial election in Kogi state. We hope that the political class in the state will not dare the will of Bassa people this time around".

“Today our people felt unrecognised, unprotected and marginalised even in spite of our unalloyed loyalty to the political progress of Kogi state for several years. It is sad to note that no political party has ever thought it fit and or justifiable to field a Bassa indigene for the position of the deputy governor, notwithstanding our consistent support. The loyalty and sincerity of Bassa people in their efforts to promote honesty in politics and ensure untainted political loyalty is seen as political weakness and timidity by almost all the political parties operating in Kogi state. This tendency must stop.

Alfred Dogwo said, “Bassa has therefore resolved to say, ” Enough is enough”. Our resolve in Bassa is that come 2019; a Bassa indigene must become deputy governor of Kogi state.

“Any political party that fails to field a Bassa indigene shall not be welcomed anywhere in the area. This is an important message we are passing to the executive councils of the political parties that will be fielding candidates for the 2019 gubernatorial election in Kogi state. Bassa has paid her dues in all the existing political platforms to which its indigenes belongs since the creation of the state".

“It is on this note, we appeal to your party to look into the profiles of Bassa indigenes in your midst with a view to picking a reliable aspirant of Bassa extraction as your deputy gubernatorial candidate if the votes of our people are to be guaranteed”.

OPINION: SENATOR DINO MELAYE AS A CHIEF PRIEST

Growing up, my late Father was such an informed man that it was natural for me to seek information and knowledge effortlessly as a worthy son who emulated the steps of a central Father...

I got to know Senator Dino Melaye when he was in the opposition and I guess he "wasn't smelling soo nice then"... Years passed and I kept up with him in the political space and in all honesty I have come to see that this is a Leader in his own class not minding whether you hate him or love him.   Severally he has come out boldly to call out the Government he played a major role in installing because of their anti people and selfish policies despite the whole attack by the agents of state on his own life. He is a man not given to fear anytime anyday as he has proven that countless times and doesn't "Look repentant at all" when it comes to telling truth to power..

However my consternation about this tall, ebony skinned (He doesn't bleach too)  handsome and amiable Legislator happened on the 13th of March at Unity Fountain when he came to pay his last respect to a late member of his constituent who doubled as a super cerebral scholar and a Canadian citizen, Prof. Adseanmi Pius. I had to calm down and look closely at this man that has been tagged all things by the present government and I saw a man you cannot help but love. Dino is a man with strong street sense and street appeal too..  I watched how he connected with everyone that came to him in such a way that you would definitely feel honored having met with him..  At a point while I was at his back,  I had serious level of pity for his huge sized security aides that didn't look to me like the regular agents of Government, as I didn't see those gun trotting abi wielding  guys around him..
My pity for them stemmed from the fact that it was difficult to effectively bar people from meeting SDM because before one could  say Jack Robbinson,  SDM is already smiling at the prospective "greeter" you want to barricade off with an already open arm to give a warm hug already.. So as a security detail you would be careful not to say one thing now and Oga at the top would say another thing..

Furthermore apart from the way he connected with the various people that came for the event at Unity Fountain,  he showed another part that is very rare to see in most politicians this day and that thrilled me the most. He showed that he wasn't a patient man not minding that DSS sometime last year became notorious for making him an "arrest induced patient". He arrived somewhat a little bit after the event had started and stayed there till the very tail end of the programme.. The patience exhibited by him was so unbecoming of a typical Nigerian politician who believes that by breezing in and breezing out,  he increases his worth before people but permit me to say to anyone who thinks this way that such is a big lie..
SDM gained my respect today not because I sanction everything he does, never but it's because on a closer look at him you would see a man who understands basically that he is because we the citizens are and he is indeed at home with his people.. You can take that to the bank..
However be it known also that during the GEJ's tenure,  he was one man i didn't like probably because I hadn't had a proper understanding of him then but i am sure I am well informed now. He is an unrepentant fighter whom it would really take so much to hold him down or shut him up.

Finally,  I admonish that anyone seeking public office should at least have a carriage that equals or surpasses that of Senator Dino Melaye. He is never a saint and has never claimed to be so but trust me,  he is giving Leadership an outlook that we can all connect with.
As a Chief Priest he never stops making melodious enchantments when he is about to make a point.. Having more DINOs and Julius Malemas in our political space in Africa would help us get transformed faster.. So help me Lord!

Remember that if you say the truth you would die.......  If you don't say the truth you would still die....  It's better to say the truth and die..

Congratulations to Prince Deji Adeyanju and his team for the event that was out up yesterday for Prof. It can only get better in Africa..

Okeh Katchy

Kogi State PDP Rejects All Election Results Declared By INEC

Kogi State PDP Rejects All Election Results Declared By INEC

... Described elections as charade, gun crazy, says democracy was murdered in the state.

The Kogi state Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has described February 23 and March 9, 2019 as the day democracy was murdered in the state and replaced with "Gun Crazy" a system of government where guns are used to forcefully win elections.

In a PRESS CONFERENCE speech titled: " We Reject the murder of  Democracy in Kogi State." read by Hon. Sam Abenemi, Deputy STATE Chairman,  PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY, Kogi State Chapter,
said democracy was not only murdered in our dear state. Democracy was exchanged for "gun crazy", a system of government where government officials and state sponsored political thugs used guns to snatch ballot boxes, write election results and allocate results to the advantage of APC.

According to Hon. Abenemi, " the Presidential, National Assembly, supplementary national assembly elections and the state houses of assembly elections may have ended several days ago across the various voting points in our dear state, we in the Kogi state PDP, are still shocked by the desperation displayed by the APC led administration in the state, the role of Security agencies like the police, the military and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

" The exercise may have ended and formally declared conclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the charade did not end without clearly validating initial concerns of the PDP and majority of Kogi people about the willingness of INEC to conduct credible elections.

" The recently held elections did not only take us several years backwards in our political evolution, aside the civil war of 1967, no where in Kogi State has ever witnessed the heavy militarization of towns and villages by the APC like was witnessed during the just concluded presidential, national and state assembly elections.

" It is therefore pursuant to the various infractions which characterized the election process that the Kogi State PDP rejects in it entirety the outcome of the elections in Kogi State.

" While good governance , vigorous campaigns usually herald elections in Nigeria, Kogi state became a theatre for rigging and electoral violence amongst other infractions obviously because the APC led administration having failed to meet the yearning and aspiration of the people, substituted democracy for "Gun Crazy"

" Kogi people would also recall that the PDP has repeatedly raised alarm about arms importation into the state, training of armed thugs as vigilantes, unholy romance between serving members of the state cabinet with INEC officials. Also disenchanted staff of the state government and even security operatives  revealed the existence of questionable relationships between key staff of the INEC in Kogi State and various individuals especially government appointees all of whom have various interests in the just concluded elections.

" As a party we've had to raise several alarms about the nefarious activities which indicated that large sums of money and other non cash items including brand new SUV's, sacks of rice, beans, sugar and garri e.t.c meant to induce key officials of the INEC, interfere with the voting process and influence the outcome of the elections thereby subverting the will of the people had exchanged hands.

" As a party we specifically disclosed that the ruling party in Kogi state having been rejected by the people were likely to utilize "intimidating tactics to shore up the votes, as well as deter large turnout of electorates in opposition strongholds". These fear came to the fore as under the cover of security agencies, PDP members, candidates were arrested, detained, abducted, with heavy voter intimidation accompanied by violence in the just concluded elections.

" To this end, the Kogi State PDP announces that indeed INEC in Kogi State provided sufficient leeway for the heavy malpractices that was the hallmark of the just concluded elections. The PDP notes that the INEC, Security agencies played active collaborator in the distortion of the electoral process as witnessed by Kogi people and the world.

" Not only were deaths recorded in Ankpa, Okehi, Dekina, Bassa and Lokoja local government areas, there were cases of abduction of members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Dekina, Ajaokuta, Yagba West, Igalamela Odolu, Olamaboro and Kabba Bunu areas.

" In major flashpoints in Bassa, Ofu, Idah, Adavi, Yagba West, Yagba East, Olamaboro and Ogori local government areas, there was a curious absence of security operatives; a development which emboldened thugs disguised as operatives of the Federal Special Anti Robbery Squad sponsored by the state to move freely from point to point in the course of which voting materials were confiscated and taken to unknown locations where mass thumb printing took place.

" In Abocho, Egume, Lokoja, Yagba West, Olamaboro, Dekina, Bassa and Koto-Karfe areas, Ijumu, Ogori Magongo, under the watch of security operatives, guns and other weapons wielding thugs disrupted voting, confiscated card readers and absconded before voting commenced only for results to be announced in the affected areas to the advantage of the All Progressives Congress. More worrisome is the roles played by some Local Government Areas Administrators, who were seen carrying guns, and intimidating electorates, snatching ballot boxes during the just concluded elections.

" The elections in Kogi State for us in the PDP clearly fall's below known standards. The processes which led to the announcement of the fake results constitute an embarrassment to Nigerians and is a conspicuous dent on the electoral process that was bequeathed to the All Progressives Congress by the administration of former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR.

" The Kogi State PDP doubts the integrity of the Kogi State Resident electoral commissioner, Prof. James Akpam and therefore demand a forensic audit of the security of the ICT infrastructure of the INEC in Kogi State to determine the level of complicity of key staff of the commission.

" We affirm that Kogi people did not turn up for the elections with an intent to reward politicians who have performed abysmally with another tenure in their respective offices. We're all aware that without over stating the fact, we presently have the worst government in Nigeria, were salaries of workers are owed for about twenty and at best six months in some cases. The Judiciary has been on strike for almost five months. Inspite the huge allocation received by the state government, no infrastructure can be seen on the ground.

" The determination of our people to end bad governance which could only come by voting out the APC and to elect credible representatives as witnessed on February 23 and March 9, 2019 was crystal clear, resolute, strong and unwavering in our people but was however subverted by the APC led administration in the state, wherein all Administrators, government officials, political thugs of the APC stock, went berserk, in Rambo style manner to kill, intimidate, cause violence, hijack ballot boxes, and to outrightly write results characterized the Kogi state election.

" Consequently, the results of voting as declared by INEC after the charade called elections in Kogi state is not a reflection of the desires of our people who risked their personal comfort and lives to vote.

" Conclusively, the Kogi State PDP assures Kogi people that the deliberate debasement of democracy which took place in Kogi State in the name of the 2019 elections will not stand as every known legal option will be explored to a logical conclusion towards reversing the abberations that occured.

" We urge Kogi people to brace up because the journey to reclaim the mandates they freely gave to the Peoples Democratic Party across board will be long but would certainly be reclaimed.

" Let it be made known that the mandates freely given  the PDP but forcefully stolen at gunpoints will be retrieved as means of ensuring that power remains with the people.

" We the PDP have in our possession pictorial, video evidences of electoral  misconduct of the APC led administration, working in connivance with INEC, how the Kogi peoples mandate were robbed with undemocratic tactics.

" In the interim, we encourage our members and supporters to remain hopeful because notwithstanding the temporal setback, justice will prevail and the wishes of Kogi people will be upheld",

LATE PROF PIUS ADESANMI : Omoluabi leads advocacy group to unveil memorial scholarship scheme in his honor...

As group begins masses welfare and rights advocacy...

The ancient city of Lokoja was wrapped in mixed feelings as the people of Kogi state continue to mourn the untimely and tragic departure of late Prof Pius Adesanmi, who lost his life to the unfortunate ill-fated Ethiopia Airline that crashed a few days ago.

While the people mourn the departure of their shining light and worthy ambassador, a newly unveiled pro-masses welfare and empowerment advocacy group led by immediate past Senatorial Candidate of ADC in Kogi West, Omoluabi Bode Adeyemi has unveiled the "PROF PIUS ADESANMI MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME" and announced payment of tuition fee for two hundred (200) students in public schools across the 21 LGA of Kogi state.

This kind gesture according to Omoluabi is to immortalize the name and fond memories of a great icon that God raised in this part of the world. He said that Prof Adesanmi represented a whole lot for the masses while alive, he described him as the single uncompromising and untiring voice of the African masses. "while he was here, he fought, worked, spoke and committed himself to the course of the unheard, unnoticed and impoverished masses. He said although Prof Adesanmi was a comfortable man, but he devoted his life and time to the emancipation of the masses" Omoluabi says.

Another member of the group, Abdullahi Ibrahim says the Voice of the Masses is a pro-masses welfare and rights advocacy movement that is just unveiled to promote the welfare and rights of the people to decent livelihood. He said the group has secured a partnership agreement with a UK based BAFA FOUNDATION to sponsor pro-masses empowerment and intervention programs in the area of scholarships, primary Healthcare delivery, SMEs development, water provisions and energy interventions through subsidizing cost of certain essential products that are commonly used at homes for the good of the Masses.

Voice of the Masses through the sponsorship of BAFA FOUNDATION will in the days ahead commence special masses empowerment after realizing the state of despair and abject poverty the people live in.

INCONCLUSIVE ELECTIONS’’ OR ‘’THE MARGIN OF LEAD PRINCIPLE’’ A RUINATION OR SCOURGE OF NIGERIA’S NASCENT DEMOCRACY.

BY HON. KARIMI S. SUNDAY.

Since pre-independence Nigeria, Elections has been an important issue of concern in Nigeria, not only because it is the only Constitutional means of securing elective offices during democratic regimes, but because politicians and electorates know it is one way to determine who gets what in our country. Hence, the desperation and fierceness of politicians and political stakeholders during elections in Nigeria.

In my view, many political office seekers see public office as an opportunity to amass wealth and not for service, akin to Karl Marx theory of State Capitalism. No wonder the desperation of political actors during elections in Nigeria. Many times, political campaigns are characterized by propaganda, abuses, hate speech, violence to disrupt campaigns, intimidation and so on. Even on the day of the Election, hitherto we experienced ballot snatching, assassinations, intimidation, kidnapping, arson and burning of houses of political stakeholders e.t.c.

However, since 1999 till date, Electioneering process in Nigeria has greatly improved, save for Local Government Elections, where most of the Governors are the Judge and Advocate in their case. Elections have moved from ‘’Do or die’’ to ‘’my blood is not worth the Life of any Nigerian’’.This development led to a smooth transition in 2015, where an incumbent President, lost an Election conducted by an Independent National Electoral Commission whose Management was majorly appointed by the his Government. His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan allowed a free and fair Presidential Election with no interference from the Executive, and he lost and handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. He not only handed over, but called the General, even before the Independent National Electoral Commission declared General Buhari the winner.
That exalted democratic governance in Nigeria to a status comparable to developed democracies in the West. It earned Nigeria a golden medal internationally and the world became hopeful that Nigeria was about to wake up from its deep slumber and take its place of pride in Black Africa. Critics of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan could not even deny the enviable enduring legacy of the amiable Ijaw-man; he would forever be remembered as a true democrat and a patriot.
With the perceived integrity of the newly sworn-in President Muhamadu Buhari, one was cocksure that the Electoral Process in Nigeria could only improve, especially that he was said to have contested without victory for years. Unfortunately, a new poisonous bug has infested the Electioneering Process in Nigeria. This Poisonous bug commenced itsdeadly attack on the Nigerian Electioneering process on the 21st November 2015, when the Kogi State Gubernatorial Election was declared inconclusive. Late Governor Abubakar Audu, candidate of the APC in the November 2015 governorship election was already coasting home to victory with 240,867 votes whilst the PDP Candidate, the then incumbent Governor Wada was trailing with 199,514 votes. But the number of cancelled votes was 49,953, higher than Audu’s victory at the time 41, 353 votes. The Returning Officer declared the election inconclusive and whilst the election commenced earlier that day, the APC Candidate Abubakar Audu died. Unfortunately, instead of APC to allow the running mate of the Late Flag bearer to continue the gubernatorial race based on the principle of joint tickets, Yahaya Bello who had come second in the APC Governorship Primary was mischievously tapped to complete the race on Audu’s behalf, a race he didn’t begin. The resolve to stop Faleke at all cost, was hatched in both the Courts and the political arena, by some powerful political elites to satisfy the ethnic, religious and self-centred interests.
The declaration of inconclusive Election was in flagrant disregard of Section 179(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended), which provides that a candidate for the election of the office of Governor of a State shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being two or more candidate, he has scored the highest votes cast in the election and he has not less than one-quarter of all votes cast in at least 2/3rd of all the Local Governments areas in the State. It seems to me, that the Constitution has already provided exhaustively for what qualifies a gubernatorial candidate for electoral victory.
In Imo State, the State Gubernatorial Election in 2015 elections was declared inconclusive as a result of vote cancellations due to electoral malpractices, at the time, Rochas Okorocha was the flag-bearer of APC and he was leading Emeka Ihedioha with 385,671 Votes to 306,142, a margin of 79,529 votes, however votes have been cancelled in several polling units across the States totalling 144,715 votes, the Returning Officer returning officer declared the elections inconclusive. In Bayelsa State in 2015, Gubernatorial Elections were also declared inconclusive, Seriake Dickson was leading with 105,748 votes and Timipre Sylva of APC trailing with 72,594 votes, INEC declared the election inconclusive. Dickson had won in 6 out of 7 Local Governments areas in the State and Sylvia won just one Local Government, yet the election was declared inconclusive following the cancellation of the entire votes in Ijaw Local Government as a result of electoral malpractice and violence. The Number of registered voters in Ijaw was put at 120,000 votes, which is above the difference between Dickson and Sylvia.
Out of the 29 Gubernatorial Elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission on March 9, 2019, six State Gubernatorial Elections have been declared inconclusive. They include Sokoto State, Plateau State, Adamawa State, Bauchi State, Benue State and Kano has been declared inconclusive. All these States are opposition Party, PDP strongholds and it seems that the Independent National Electoral Commission has another interest to serve asides conduct and declaration of elections. In fact, one is worried that Elections in Rivers State may also be declared inconclusive.
In Benue State, the Returning Officer relying on the Margin of lead principle i.e where the Margin of lead is below the number of cancelled votes, the election should be declared inconclusive. The total number of cancelled votes was put at  121,019 votes, while the margin of lead between Ortom and Jime stood at 81,554 votes, Ortom totalled 410,576 votes while Jime Scored  329,022 votes. The cancellation of votes was due largely to the destruction of electoral materials at Mbalom Council Ward.
In Bauchi State, election had been completed without any problem; there was peaceful conduct of election at the polling units, ward and local government. In Tafawa Balewa Local Government which is the subject of controversy, election had been completed peacefully, but at the Local Government Collation Centre, the seating Governors thugs allegedly invaded the Local Government Collation Centre and carted away some result sheets. This made the Returning officer of the Local Government collate the results on a separate paper and wrote an explanatory memorandum to the State Returning Officer explaining why she was compelled to write the Results on a separate sheet from the designated Local Government Collation form. The State Electoral Officer rejected the results and declared the elections inconclusive. Meanwhile the Thugs had been arrested by the Security operatives and the confessed acting for the seating Governor who had polled second to the PDP Candidate. Does it now mean that a Candidate for an election can cause any form of crisis in a bid to ensure the election is inconclusive to give him a second bite at the cherry? Would that not be allowing the wrongdoer to benefit from his wrong? Would that not be injustice?
In Adamawa and Sokoto States, Election has also been declared inconclusive based on the margin of lead principle. In Adamawa State, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, 40,988 votes were cancelled in 44 polling units across the State; the margin of lead was 32,476. The People’s Democratic Party Candidate Ahmadu Fintiri was leading having polled 367,471 votes against Mr. Bindow who polled 334,995 votes. The total number of accredited voters in the election is 894,481 votes. In Sokoto State, where PDP is leading and accusing the umpire of bias, PDP sored 489,558 votes whilst APC scored 486,145 votes leaving a margin of 3,413 votes, while 75,403 votes were cancelled because of violence in some poling units.
Does it now mean that, whenever a Candidate for an election sees that he is polling behind another, he should sponsor unrest in few polling units in a bid to ensure that the Independent National Election Commission declares the Election inconclusive so that he can have a second bit at the cherry, and so that he can manipulate the process to victory? Would that not be allowing the wrong doer to benefit from his wrong? Is it merely coincidental that all the States where inconclusive elections were declared are PDP strongholds? Does it mean that the independent National Electoral Commission is conniving with the Ruling Party? Or rather, will the Independent National Electoral Commission not be seen as conniving with the Ruling Party? Would that not have a negative impact on the image of the Electoral Umpire? What happens if the Ruling PDP now loses all inconclusive gubernatorial polls where it seems to be in the lead already? Would it not affect the assessment of the reasonable man about the neutrality of INEC? Would it not endanger the security of the nation?
The recent Presidential election should have been declared inconclusive too as the difference between Buhari and Alh Abubakar Atiku is 3.8million while d cancelled votes is 5.8million.
One is not oblivious that section 153 of the Electoral Act gives the Independent National Electoral Commission power to make Regulations, Guidelines and Manuals for the conduct of Elections in Nigeria and as a result, the Commission issued the 2015 General Election Guidelines and the 2019 General Election Guidelines, as Subsidiary Legislation to the Electoral Act and engrained in them the Margin of lead principle. In page 17, paragraph C of the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections on the margin of lead principle state that where the margin of lead between the two leading candidates in an election is not in excess of the total number of voters registered in polling units where elections are not counted or voided, in line with section 26 and 53 of the Electoral Act, the Returning Officer shall decline to make a return until votes have taken place in the affected polling units and results collated in to the relevant forms for declaration and return.Also, section 26(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 provides that where a date has been approved for the holding of an election and there is reason to believe that there will be serious breach of peace if the election is proceeded with that day, or that it is impossible to conduct the elections due to natural disaster or other emergencies, the Commission may postpone the election and fix a new date for the election. The combined effect of Section 134,179, 111 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended) and 26(1) as well as Section 53(2)&(3) of the Electoral Act  shows that inconclusive elections is not envisaged in our laws, except where there was over-voting in a polling unit, not where votes already cast were cancelled.
It is therefore my considered view that the Independent National Electoral Commission should adhere strictly to the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Constitution and do away with the Margin of lead principle because it is becoming a tool for the subversion of the will of the people. The Constitution has already stipulated what makes a Candidate for chief executive offices duly elected, the Electoral Act in section 26 posits that where there is likelihood of civil unrest, elections shall be shifted to another day, section 53(2) &(3) is to the effect that inconclusive elections can only be declared when there are over-voting at the polling units, it is therefore ridiculous for the Guideline of the Commission, a subsidiary Legislation to be seen as being used to rob the electorates of their desire. Isolated elections in Nigeria are usually over-militarized and full of intimidation all in a bid to ensure the victory of the candidate of the Ruling APC. The Gubernatorial Elections in Osun State and its re-run still resonates in our mind. If something is not done to whittle down the wide powers of the Commission in applying its Margin of Lead Principle in elections in Nigeria, it may signal the end of democracy.
No doubt, the Elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission since 2015, has been plagued largely by inconclusive elections and the last General Elections shows that rather than improve on the legacies of the Professor Jega Led Independent National Electoral Commission, we are regressing as a nation in the conduct of our election. Elections in many State was marred with violence, for instance in Kogi State, the House of Assembly Elections was characterized by ballot snatching, sporadic gunshots and intimidation of the electorates, the situation in Rivers State currently is even worse. The Point has been made, that Inconclusive Elections has a potential of eroding the confidence of the electorate in the Electoral system, cause insecurity, showcase the Electoral Commission as a biased umpire and endanger democratic governance in the Country. The Independent National Electoral Commission, the Legislature and the Courts, must review the Margin of Lead Principle in Elections in Nigeria, to avoid whimsical and arbitrary use of the powers of the Electoral body. Also, the 8th National Assembly made far reaching amendments to the Electoral Act, aimed at relying on Electronic Voting, ease and simplicity of vote and the security, credibility  and transparency of the election process. These far-reaching Amendments were borne out of patriotism and a desire to improve the election process in Nigeria. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is admonished to re-visit that piece of legislation and sign it into law. Also, it is my humble advice that he leaves a Legacy of credible elections in Nigeria, as he commences the final lap of his stewardship and service to our great country.
Thank you.
Hon. Karimi Sunday Steve
Member Representing Yagba Federal Constituency.

STOP GYB MOVEMENT

OPERATION RESCUE KOGI STATE

Fellow Kogites we will be launching the 'Stop GYB Movement' in all the 21 Local Government Areas of Kogi state very soon.
I call on all Kogites to be resolute and determined in their decision to stop the continuing mindless pilfering of our common patrimony, by those who have legitimized executive banditry in the management of our collective resources. Together, let's stop the unspeakable violence and tyranny which have since become state policy under the Yahaya Bello Administration.
We must be ready for Bello in our determination to give him double dose of whatever he introduces henceforth.
God is greater than Bello and his monstrous associates.
The will of the people of Kogi State shall prevail as we open the second curtain of our political activities for year 2019.
Never again shall we be victims of the Governor's thuggish wickedness and satanic manifestations. The security agencies must as a matter of utmost urgency, check the lawless activities of the Governor's aides, notably his police aide-de-camp and the others.
We shall petition the International Criminal Court, ICC, at the Hague, on the terrorist activities of Yahaya Bello and his minions. If Bello's brutish mentors including Hissene Habre of Chad, Charles Taylor of Liberia and Laurent Gbagbo have been prosecuted and incarcerated for crimes against humanity, Bello is no less qualified to face the full wrath of the law.
In the aftermath of the electoral heist, the tyrannical coercion, the broad-daylight bestiality, the state-sponsored brigandage which we witnessed in our state in recent elections, it is germane, even imperative for us to initiate an immediate an post-mortem and chart the way forward.
We will call a 'Save Kogi Conference' soon to x-ray the liberalization of arms and ammunitions hitherto alien to our parts, the unprovoked assault on our people and killing of the innocent by the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kogi State in a most desperate and blood-stained electioneering process.
We cannot afford to be  disillusioned and depressed into despair and hopelessness. The battle to rescue our state from temporal opportunists is a battle of no retreat no surrender.
As a matter of urgency therefore, we must retool and be ready to reorganize and restrategize if we hope to make an impression at the November polls.
Effectively, we have just seven months to the gubernatorial election, where we will be confronting a multi-horned monster in the governor of our state and his brigade of desperately dangerous hoodlums, who have contributed to the regime of chicanery, stultification and insecurity which have become hallmarks of our state.
Wake up, Kogites!
It is not dawn yet.
In God we trust and through Him, we shall overcome.


Sen. Dino Melaye,
Convener,
Stop GYB Movement.

Elder Leke Abejide commiserate with family of late Pius Adesanmi.

Elder Leke Abejide has condoled with the Adesanmi’s family, as well as the people of Yagba, Kogi and Nigeria at large on the death of Prof. Pius Adesanmi.

Elder Leke Abejide, House of Representative Member-Elect, Yagba Federal Constituency is from the same Local Government with the late Professor Pius Adesanmi, who died in the ill-fated Ethiopian plane crash on Sunday.
The lawmaker-Elect condolence message is in a statement made in Abuja on Monday.

He also commiserated with the wife, daughter, friends, Governments, Carleton University and Isanlu Yagba East community in Kogi State over the passage of the astute and dedicated role mode and Academician.  He was a shining light and worthy example of hard work, positive influence and patriotism to the nation.
Elder Leke urge family members to uphold his lifelong dedication and passion to human development.

Adesanmi was one of the two Nigerians on the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed in the early hours of Sunday, killing all the 149 passengers and eight crew members aboard.
He was a Canada-based Nigerian writer, critic and scholar.
He prayed that almighty God would grant the soul of the departed eternal rest and comfort all who mourn him.

An Open Letter To Yagba West Youths.

Greetings to my fellow Yagba-West youths. I hope this  piece meets you all well? Ordinarily,  I would have been silent but if we all keep silence, our youths will rot away hence my reason for this letter.

To all who surrendered themselves to thuggery during the elections, now that elections are over, what are your hopes for the future? Indeed many has proven not to be useful to themselves but useful for violence.

I expected the youths to ask themselves what they will get in return, after selling themselves to political slavery, cultism and other social vices gradually becoming part of our norms. What development can we get from all this adverse behaviors in our society?

Causing Mayhem within the communities because we are supporting different political parties or causing discord because we have different political views is wrong to say the least. We should also know that most of this people have their children  abroad where they are schooling, working and having a good life but here you're giving yourselves to political thuggery willingly!

As youths, before we support individuals for any political position we should look deeply to what they have contributed to the community in terms of development, also look into what they have to offer as soon as they are elected.

It is a wake-up call to Yagba youths even as I still wonder why we choose to follow people who has failed us, thousands leave secondary schools every year without hope of going further, neither do we remember most youths are graduates without jobs or businesses, while some of these people enjoyed free educations and free meal  during their days in school. We have so much forgotten that the future lies in our hands.

I sometimes wonder how we choose our leaders and political associates as youths. We choose to follow leader who show less empathy on our future, but care more about themselves and life baggage. We love to be seen around leaders who couldn't help us with jobs but help us with ammunitions such as guns and machetes,  leaders who prefer to recruit youths as thugs than recruiting into federal and state job vacancies. Isn't it obvious the youths have been totally enslaved  by some categories of old men and women in the top class positions?

Youths now sing praises of politicians to for monetary gains. I know many youths in Yagba who could no long phantom their lifestyle, some  live everyday smoking and  drinking, hard drugs becoming order of the day! When are we hoping to get it right?

Our characters today will design our future, character is destiny. Our path in life, our entire trajectory, is largely dependent not only on our abilities but also on what we are as individuals and as human beings.

I know many brilliant and gifted young youths in yagba who fell by the wayside simply for lack of character. Honesty, truthfulness, modesty, politeness, humility – these are simple virtues that will carry anyone a very long distance indeed. Even if such a person were born in a log cabin like Abraham Lincoln, they would make it to the pinnacle of achievement.

Our characters count, they relatively tell a lot about us. We can't develop with huge rise of political algorithm. We need to be strengthened by intelligence, zeal for development and youthful inclusion. Envisaging good development should be our collective interest at all times.


Abraham Ibukun Eunice
Concerned Yagba-west Youth.

FG Amends Charges, Re-arraigns Melaye Over Alleged Resist Of Arrest

...As FCT High Court grants lawmaker bail on existing conditions

By Gideon Ayodele

The Senator representing Kogi West and Senator-elect, Dino Melaye, was on Monday morning arraigned before a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama for allegedly resisting police arrest.


This makes the 12th time the lawmaker will be arraingned by both the Federal Government and the Nigeria Police before various courts in Abuja and Lokoja, Kogi state.

It will be recalled too that operatives of the Nigeria Police had in December 2018 stormed Melaye's private residence in Maitama, Abuja and laid a siege to the property for a week, a development the lawmaker described as illegal and a violation of his rights.

Upon submitting himself for arrest, the Police in January, 2019 arraigned the lawmaker alongised his security guard for allegedly resisting arrest and was subsequently granted bail on health ground.

The bail conditions included the Clerk to the National Assembly writing a letter assuring the court that the National Assembly will provide Melaye anytime he's needed with two sureties with evidence of property in Abuja.

But this Monday, the Federal Government took over the case and amended the charges initially preferred against the lawmaker to include speaking to journalists and making tweets on his social media handles while in hiding.

However, the presiding judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu subsequently granted Melaye a fresh bail on the exiting conditions.

APC PLANS TO BOMB INEC OFFICE IN IJUMU, KABBA BUNU AND LOKOJA LGA.

Mach 9, 2019

Press Statement

There are emerging information as to how the APC leaders led by Taofik Isah, sole administrator of Ijumu LGA plans to detonate some explosives devices in the Ijumu LGA INEC office, and others which include Kabba Bunu and Lokoja LGA.

The plans was to ensure that PDP was not announced at the final collation points.

Our attention has been drawn to a scary emerging information which had it that the sole administrators in Kogi West have perfected plans to bomb Ijumu, Kabba-Bunu and  Lokoja LGA INEC offices through the use explosive devices.
This is simply a desperation taken too far.

'We wish to state that all hands must be on deck to support security agencies in other avert this disturbing situation where election has been declared as war'.

These must not be allowed to happen as PDP believes in free, fair and transparent process devoid of violence and thuggery.

At this point, all security agencies must do everything professionally and humanly possible to avert this impeding disaster. Peoples life and properties are placed on danger by this desperate actors.

Ijumu LGA administrator have been on rampage since the commencement of this election, moving around with imported thugs to harass and snatch ballot boxes.

We call on all and sundry to hold APC leaders and all sole administrators responsible if eventually they execute their unfortunate plans.

We equally charge security agencies particularly the Nigerian Police to ensure adequate security cover at the various local govt areas where election results will be announced.

PDP wish to state that election is a process guided by certain rules and not a war.


*-KOGI WEST PDP*

One Feared Dead As Violence, Ballot Snatching Mar Kogi West Election

After Alleged Attack By APC Thugs, Police Arrest, Detain Kogi PDP Assembly Candidate, Son

Candidate Slumps After His Release from Police Custody

Thugs Vandalized Shops Amid Late Night Gun Shots

Hon. Rinde Asagun, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Assembly elcetion in Yagba West state constituency has been allegedly attacked by some suspected thugs working for the All Progressive Congress (APC). He was subsequently arrested and detained at the Divisional Police Station, Odo-Ere, Yagba West Local Government headquarters, alongside his son Kehinde and a chieftain of the PDP in the local government, Hon  Sanya Babalola.

A host of other PDP stalwarts in the local government were reportedly listed for arrest ahead of the crucial state elections slated for Saturday.  The development came on the heels of intial fears expressed in the opposition camps to the effect that prominent opposition leaders had been marked to be kept out of circulation until after the elections.

Although he was said to have been released at about midnight, Thursday,  Asagun, upon his release reportedly slumped in the early hours of Friday and was immediately  rushed to ECWA Hospital, Egbe according to his daughter, Ronke Asagun.

His son, Kehinde Asagun and Sanya Babalola, both charged with alleged illegal possession of gun and public disturbance, respectively, were later moved to the Police Area Command  in Isanlu and the Lokoja Comand.

Asagun, speaking through her daughter, told newsmen in Egbe on Friday , that some thugs led by Mr Aderonke Aro, an APC House of Assembly candidate for Yagba west, attacked him and other PDP members on his campaign train on their way back to Egbe during his final rally in the area, Thursday.



He said a team of joint military and Nigeria civil defence service corps led by the APC candidate, decided to block the highway while his team was returning from a house-to-house campaign from Ejiba, a border town in the local government . In the melee that ensued, he disclosed that no less than nine persons, all of his suporters, were injured.

According to Asagun, the APC thugs pelted stones on him, his son, other members of the family and PDP members, in the p using dangerous weapons such as knives, axes, cutlasses etc, to inflict severe injuries on his supporters, only to turned round to make spurious allegations against the victims of the attack by APC thugs.

He said "the House of Assembly candidate of the APC for Yagba West in Saturday’s election, Aderonke Aro, with the help of NSCDC personnel shut sporadically, beating and harassing us while we were trying to make peace with them. The police were made to put the story on its head, by accusing my son of being in possession of a gun. Where will he get a gun from?

“I want to call on the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to order immediate investigation into the matter.

”The NSCDC personnel involved in such illegal operation must be investigated and punished accordingly; uniform men must stop terrorizing our communities and our people with guns.

”We are calling on heads of all the security agencies in the state to wake up to their responsibility to forestall further humiliation and intimidation of perceived oppositions by the ruling party.

In another twist to the crisis in Yagba West, at about 10 pm that Wednesday night  when news of Asagun's arrest broke out, security agents and a pocket of local vigilantes, amid tension and fears of a violent protest, took over major streets in Egbe, the commercial nerve of Yagba West council and hometown of the two opposing candidates.

Meanwhile, it was not immediately known how and when  a night attack on shops belonging to a PDP chieftain was carried out. Residents of Egbe woke up Friday money to see the popular twin shop of Prince and Princess Enterprise, dealers in boutique and mobile phone accessaries located along the Kabba-Egbe-Ilorin federal owned by wife of the immediate past vice chairman of the council, Hon Omoniyi Adeyemi in outright ruins. The adorning glass dooors were were vandalized beyond repairs and goods worth millions allegedly looted by miscreants. Residents said the vandals carried out the attack by throwing stones amid firing of sporadic gun shots while residents scampered for dear lives. Fear stricken, other residents who claimed they had slept when they heard gun shots said they chose to remaine indoors for fears of the unknown.