The Social Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress in Kogi State have expressed confidence in winning the governorship election on Saturday.
Speaking in an interview on Thursday with newsmen, the SDP Director of Communication, Faruk Adejoh-Audu, said the party was sure of winning 25 per cent votes from all the local government areas in the state.
He also accused Governor Yahaya Bello of orchestrating attacks on the SDP in a bid to scuttle its capacity to win the election.
He said, “The SDP is the party to beat in this race. Even the APC knows that it is an inferior party as far as the race is concerned. The SDP is the only party that cuts across the entire senatorial districts. We have confidence that we will win in all those districts.
“The emergence of the SDP has shocked them (the APC) to their spine. So, he (Governor Bello) believes he can install a puppet as governor.
“He knows that with the organic popularity of the SDP, it is not easy to achieve those feats. If not, you know Dino Melaye. He is a man hated by Bello.
“Why is he ignoring him? Who is the candidate of the PDP? That is because he knows that if he channels his energy towards Dino, the SDP will sweep the victory.
“Secondly, we identified the people who participated in the violence. For instance, our office that was burnt down, the person who led that operation is a full-time thug in Lokoja.
“We now know who is attacking us. Bello has been the one sending people to attack us. We try as much as possible to say it is Bello and not the APC because he is the APC. Our candidate left the APC; so, we know them.”
Reacting, the state APC Publicity Secretary, Usman Suleman, denied the allegation, saying the governor remained an advocate of peace.
He also expressed confidence that the party would emerge victorious in the election.
He said, “I disagree with that. The governor of the state has been preaching peace. He doesn’t want any violence in any area. He has repeatedly advocated peaceful elections.
“The SDP are the ones that have been engaging in attacks. And the governor strictly instructed that no APC member should retaliate. You can confirm this with anyone, except for the people who would not want to tell the truth.
“We are going to win this election. We just want to ensure we win with a landslide where the gap will be glaring to everyone. And as you know, you can satisfy everybody, and you know there will be aggrieved people. So, what we are doing is placating them and bringing everybody back to the fold fully.
Speaking further, he said, “By the grace of God, we are expecting that this election will be the most peaceful. I promise you that. People should not nurture any fear.”
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Action Alliance in Kogi State, Fred Ambo, has said that the party’s governorship candidate, Olayinka Braimoh, will win the election in the state if the Independent National Electoral Commission conducts a credible election.
Ambo, who reiterated the party’s confidence at the polls, stated that the AA was optimistic of recording a good and favourable result, noting that the quality of the party’s manifesto would distinguish Braimoh from candidates of other political parties.
He added that the AA was hopeful that INEC would conduct a peaceful and credible governorship election, noting that the party’s determination to take over the governance of the state.
According to him, the state has previously fallen into inappropriate hands and the right time was now to ensure that every necessary step was taken for its candidate to emerge victorious.
Ambo spoke during an interview with newsmen where he expressed optimism that to a larger extent, the election would be devoid of violence and other vices, explaining that several indications had shown that the party’s candidate would emerge as the next governor of the state.