The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Kogi State, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello, has explained why the party defeated the opposition candidates in the last governorship election in the state.
Bello who made this known why speaking during an interview with a journalist, said the closest candidates from the opposition, the People’s Democratic Party, Dino Melaye and the Social Democratic Party, Muritala Ajaka, do not have the kind of political structures to win a governorship election in Kogi state.
According to the ruling party chairman when he was asked to rate the last governorship election in the state, against the call by some candidates to cancel the results of the election, the governorship poll is beyond limiting oneself to a particular zone because it cannot be won by sentiment or imagination, so to win the election you have to cut across all zones.
“Let me start with Dino’s case. He was a legislator, having served in the Green and Red chambers at one time or the other.
“These combined experiences, ordinarily, should tell you that such a person should have some electoral experience. But we can see that the man is empty.
“The law is very clear for you to be qualified to be a governor.
“You have to vote and be voted for. But did he vote in the last election that he is calling for its cancellation? …an election that he did not participate in and yet, he is calling for its cancellation.
“Some political mischief makers somersaulted into politics.
“They think they can do anything and get away with it. They think they can blackmail the APC by cooking up results to discredit a reputable organisation like INEC ( Independent National Electoral Commission) headed by a reputable professor of note.
“I think these people should be called in for questioning and asked where they got those results from.
“You and I know that all those parties did not prepare for the election. Then why did they resort to blackmail?
“You said there were result sheets somewhere, INEC said okay, we would cancel. What happened to the rest?
“There are 239 wards in Kogi. If you say there is an issue in one ward, what of the remaining wards where there are no issues?
“The places you won the election were free, fair, and credible, right? But the places I win you say they should be cancelled! Who is deceiving whom They were not prepared for the election, simple!
“A politician going for this type of election must have the spread.
“How will this man become the governor of the state when he limits himself to one part of the state? Are you contesting for the Senate? You don’t have the spread, and you are crying foul instead of addressing the real issue.
“Some people take this to be the House of Representatives or Council Chairmanship elections.
“A governorship poll is more than that, if you say because you were a local government chairman twice, your people have trust in you and as such, that qualifies you to be governor of the state, it’s a lie.
“You must have the structure and the spread. The APC has got the spread. It has a structure on the ground in every part of the state. The APC has a system in place at the local level, the state level, and the federal level.
“Can you compare that with a party with maybe one House of Representatives member, where is your structure?
“Politics is very simple, but you must have the right thinking. Politics is not for all comers. You must have the spread. You must have structures. They lack all these, and they want to be governor, it’s simply not possible,” he said.
