Kogi guber poll: Dino urges electorate not to be intimidated

• As Damagum sees prospect of victory for PDP

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Ahead of the Saturday, November 11, 2023 governorship election in Kogi State, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the poll,
Senator Dino Melaye has called on residents of the state not to be Intimidated by the threat and violence by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Dino made the call while answering questions from Journalists after a crucial meeting of Kogi PDP stakeholders from the three Senatorial zones of the state, with the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) at the party’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
Melaye said, “My charge to Kogi State is that they should not be Intimidated by the APC’s threat of violence. The humiliation by the APC should not deter them from exercising their democratic rights. I want to assure you that we will protect our people.”
The governorship candidate expressed the firm optimism that PDP will win the election in Kogi State, because “we have never had it so bad in the history of Kogi State”.
Continuing, he said, “Our people were impoverished, salaries have not been paid, pension have not been paid, gratuity has not been paid, the health sector is non existent, in fact all the General Hospitals in the state are mere consulting clinics.
“Education has gone moribund. This is what the PDP is coming to ameliorate. I want to assure you that by the grace of God, with the resolutions of this meeting, with the strategy adopted in this meeting, PDP is good to go in Kogi State”, he said.
Speaking before going into a closed door session, acting National Chairman of the party Ambassador Umar Damagum disclosed that the party has already seen prospects in the Kogi election, adding that the meeting was called to know y”our challenges and to know how to work on the reconciliation before the election”.
He said, “This reconciliation will take three stages from the ward, local government and state. I am glad most of the Senior Stakeholders are here and they are supposed to anchor that reconciliation. Because we from outside the state can only encourage you to work on the reconciliation.
“I am delighted to tell you that the Osun State Governor, who is the Chairman of the Kogi Campaign committee, has promised that he will go to each zone to seat down with you on a Zonal basis. He will campaign in all these places and he is very much alive to this responsibility in Kogi.
“In this meeting, we want your leaders to tell us where they want us to come in, so that we can work together for victory”, he said.
Some of the Kogi stakeholders present at the meeting were; Senator Tunde Ogbeha, Prince Sola Akomode, Stephen Olorufemi, Idris Wada, Kola Ologbondiyan, Patrick Adaba and Philip Salau among others.