The race for the next occupant of Lugard House, Kogi’s Government House, may have taken a new dangerous turn, as reports reaching DAILY POST from the Confluence State has it that political thugs, allegedly sympathetic to the current governor of the state, Captain Idris Wada, have started attacking billboards belonging to governorship aspirants in Lokoja.
According to the report, campaign billboards belonging to some APC candidates such as Baba Ali Sulaiman, Otunba Funsho Ipinmisho, amongst others were destroyed between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
A member of the campaign organization of the Lanre Ipinmisho Campaign confided in DAILY POST that the organization’s campaign billboard in the popular Nataco area of the state capital has been pulled down by political thugs loyal to the state governor.
Similarly, a source in Lokoja also confirmed the destruction of campaign billboards belonging to Sule Baba Ali, located around JB Hotel in Lokoja and another one close to the Kogi NUJ state chapter office around the old stadium.
Both Otunba Lanre Ipinmisho and Sule Baba Ali are aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
Reacting to the report, Dr. Tom Ohikere of the Yahaya Bello Campaign organization, said though he is yet to get a comprehensive report on the incident, he is of the view that such things should not be allowed in a civilized world. “What we are saying at the Yahaya Bello campaign is that there is the need for us to have a rancor free election in Kogi State. If campaign billboards are being attacked and posters are destroyed, what are we trying to tell the world? We need a peaceful election in the state and that is our stand”.
However, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Mr. Jacob Eddy, in a telephone interview with DAILY POST, dismissed the report of the alleged involvement of Governor Idris Wada in the reported destruction of billboards, saying it is another “tissue of lies”, adding that the governor is averse to violence and thuggery.
“Some tissue of lies! The governor’s aversion to the issue of thugs and thuggery is well known and one of the major planks of Captain Wada’s administration. So for the records, the allegations are untrue and baseless.”
Speaking further, Eddy said: “Everyday one allegation or the other comes but the governor has always frowned against thugs and thuggery.
When asked who could have been behind such destruction, the governor’s spokesman said: “What I can tell you is that the governor has no hand in it. If I had known who did, I would have gone to the police.
“What I can tell you is that the governor is tolerant; if you come to the Government House, you will see opposition posters opposite it. This is the same governor that as soon as he came into office, extended a hand of fellowship to a lot of opposition people, including former Governor, Abubakar Audu. In fact, it is on record that Audu has gone on air to even praise the governor.
“So if he was intolerant of the opposition, do you think posters of the opposition would have been placed opposite the Government House which is like the governor’s fortress? We all know what governors do in Nigeria. But these people making these allegations are merely looking for what to say and it is unfortunate that we just go to the media and feed them with lies and they twist it just to get headlines”, Eddy said.
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