The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for Kogi Central Senatorial District in the 2023 general election, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has alleged that the attack on Governor Yahaya Bello’s convoy was politically motivated.
“It is a smear campaign against the Social Democratic Party Governorship candidate Murtala Yakubu-Ajaka,” she said.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, who spoke in a statement issued in Lokoja on Sunday, urged the appropriate authorities to investigate the crisis.
She noted that both Bello and Ajaka are already accusing each other of assassination attempt, calling for investigation before it would go out of control.
She said: “The attack was a ploy to implicate Ajaka to be disqualified by INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) in the forthcoming November 11 governorship election.”
But Kingsley Fanwo, the state Commissioner for Information, said that Akpoti-Uduaghan should better give her testimony to the law enforcement agents than going to the media.
Fanwo said: “If she was there when the incident happened, she should better go to the law enforcement agents and give vivid account of what exactly happened.
“But if she wasn’t there, she isn’t fair to either Bello nor Ajaka by this accusation.”