By; ADAMA JOHN, Lokoja
The governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the off circle election on November 11 in Kogi State, Usman Ododo, has called on security agencies to release chieftains of the party who were arrested in Kogi East on Tuesday on ‘baseless grounds’.
A worried Ododo said that the APC chieftains that were arrested are noble people, with no questionable character, and have no reason to engage in thuggery or other vices.
“Just this morning again, about seven of my members were picked from my community. I don’t breed thugs because I don’t condone criminality. The security agencies should carry out their investigations and release our people with immediate effect,” he said.
Ododo who spoke to journalists in Lokoja on Wednesday, said the laudable achievements of the current administration which the people of Kogi State have attested to, is enough for the party’s landslide victory at the polls.
He attributed the ongoing activities of the falling politicians to the political upheavals stoking violence and leveling unfounded allegations.
He called on the security agencies to be fair to all and ensure the security of lives and property before, during and after the governorship election.
The governorship candidate lauded the security agencies for the good work they have been doing in the state, promising that he would always be available to honour their invitations any time the need arises.
“As a law abiding citizen and as somebody that has worked on the field, somebody that carries out investigations, as auditor general for local government areas, I know what it takes to manage human beings. The people of Kogi State are looking up to the security agencies to ensure a peaceful election.
“My members that they have picked, I still base it on allegations. Let them do their investigations and I believe they will do that without bias. As soon as they are done, they will be released.
“But in a situation where security agents are harassing and detaining my members without saying what offence they have committed, I want to call on them to release them and face those criminals that went to Kotonkarfe to kill an APC supporter and get them arrested.
“That is what they should focus on and not the law abiding members of our party. So I call on them to hasten their investigations and release our members with immediate effect,” he stated.
On allegations of witch-hunt by the opposition, Ododo sees that as jumping from one TV station to the other desperately everyday, leaving where he is supposed to be doing groundwork and courting voters saying that something serious must be wrong with him.
“As for us in the APC, we know we are winning. Governor Yahaya Bello has done the people proud and it is time to reward the party. The reward of hard work is more work and we are ready to serve again. We won’t join issues with losers who have only ethnic agenda and violence in their dictionary”, Ododo said.
He urged his supporters to come out en masse on Saturday to vote for the APC, saying a vote for APC is a vote for unity, peace and progress of the state.
