#KogiDecides2019: No election in Kogi – SDP candidate

The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State, Natasha Akpoti, has decried the alleged level of electoral irregularities in the state.

She said there was no real election going on in the state, especially in Kogi Central.

According to her, many agents of SDP had been attacked and arrested by fake policemen.

Akpoti, who stated this when she addressed journalists after casting her vote, further alleged that Governor Yahaya Bello had ordered people to kill her.

She said: “I have been ready for the past hour and half but each time I try to go cast my vote, there is sporadic gunshots and chanting of violent words.

“I got to know that the APC thugs had been ordered by Yahaya Bello to kill me since yesterday. The sad thing is there is no election going because the SDP agents have been attacked, some arrested by fake policemen because we have reached out to the DPOs in this vicinity and they feign ignorance of having arrested any SDP agent.

Read also: #KogiDecides2019: Large voters’ turnout in Okene

“This is definitely not an election, this is almost like a war zone and the sad thing is military personnel and security agents around there are doing nothing while thugs harass the SDP agents.

“There is no election happening in Kogi central, so I can imagine what is happening in other parts of the state. The level of violence is unprecedented.

“Yahaya Bello is upset that someone from Kogi central is contesting against him. All I am trying to do is to exercise my civic responsibility of participating in the election. Everyone has a right to seek for a chance to govern and contribute his or her quota towards improving the state.

“It is quite worrisome to see that the federal government, the IGP and all of these agencies are silent, so it seems there is some kind of conspiracy to enable Yahaya Bello and APC win because he is grossly unpopular. Why all these violence if he has actually performed well?”

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