Ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Kogi State, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Dino Melaye has called on residents of the state not to be intimidated by the threats and violence allegedly orchestrated by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Addressing journalists after a 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 headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, Melaye said the meeting had adopted a strategy to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
The PDP candidate said: "You should not be intimidated by the threat, violence, the humiliation by the APC; it should not deter you from exercising your democratic rights. I want to assure you that we will protect our people."
Melaye said PDP is going to win the election in Kogi State, because: "We have never had it so bad in the history of the state. Our people were impoverished, salaries have not been paid, pensions have not been paid, gratuity has not been paid, and the health sector is nonexistent. In fact, all the general hospitals in the state are mere consulting clinics.
The acting National Chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Umar Damagum said the party has already seen prospects in the Kogi election, adding that the meeting was to know challenges and how to work on the reconciliation before the election.
Damagum 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 are from outside the state, we 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 sit down with you on a zonal basis. He will campaign in all these places and he is very much alive to this responsibility.
"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."
Some of the stakeholders present at the meeting were Prince Shola Akomode, Stephen Olorufemi, Tunde Ogbeha, Idris Wada, Kola Ologbondiyan, Patrick Adaba, Philip Salau among others.
