A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and Commissioner for Information and Communications, Hon. Kingsley Fanwo, has expressed confidence that the party will win the November 11, 2023 governorship poll in the state “massively”.
The Commissioner made this known when he spoke with newsmen in Lokoja, the state capital, on Saturday.
Fanwo said the pedigree of the party in the state is such that the opposition will “continue to struggle”, adding that the aspiration of the governorship candidate of the APC, Alhaji Usman Ododo, is a “movement of a united Kogi people”.
His words: “Our candidate, Alhaji Usman Ahmed Ododo, has met virtually all key stakeholders in Kogi State.
“He is still meeting more people to consult with them on the way to consolidate on the legacies of Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
“Today, he is working harder than any other candidate in the race.
“He has and he is still meeting with stakeholders across the state from the East to the West and Central because he is running on the card of a united Kogi State.
“He is confident that his programmes and the achievements of the Yahaya Bello administration will deliver victory to him.
“The commitment of stalwarts and our compatriots across the ethnic, religious and class lines has been phenomenal, a clear demonstration of what Yahaya Bello laboured for seven years to build, which is a people united by destiny.
“The embrace of our candidate by all is what is sparking jitters in their spines.
“APC has done well in Kogi State and will continue to earn the trust of the people.
“GYB delivered Kogi to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, won all the three senatorial seats, won six of the nine Reps seats and won 22 of the 25 Assembly seats.
“It is an indomitable, thumping political war chest.
“In November 2023, the people will speak again with a resounding voice that Kogi is APC and APC is Kogi.”
The APC Chieftain said those campaigning on ethnic lines “missed their roads to a new Kogi where ethnicity and religion do not determine who drives the car but the competence to drive the car”, saying they will “meet their political Waterloo at the appropriate time”.
He added: “Ethnic and religious politics ended in Kogi in January 2016 and will never raise its ugly head again.
“That is why those who truly cherish the development of our State are leaving our opponents in their sinking ship to join the team that has done Kogi proud in the last seven years.”
Fanwo said Ododo has sat down with his team to look at the stage of development in the state with a view to taking it further into her place of pride.
He assured the people of the state that Ododo will be a “fantastic Governor”, adding: “Our candidate has learnt the ropes from Kogi’s best Governor ever.
“He has seen the commitment of the present administration to security, education, healthcare, rural development, urban renewal as well as human capacity building.
“He has watched from close quarters how GYB has turned the youth to leaders of today and involved women in governance.
“He will follow that path.
“While they are talking about ethnic agenda, we are discussing with Kogites how to take the budget for education and healthcare further.
“We are discussing with Kogites how to expand the nets of our health insurance to capture more beneficiaries.
“We are discussing with Kogites how to empower rural women and rural farmers.
“That has been our business in the last seven years and it won’t change.”
On the vandalisation of the Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation at Ochaja, Fanwo said the State Government was still awaiting the outcome of police investigations, assuring the people that those who vandalised the broadcast facility will surely be brought to book.
He said: “We are in touch with security agencies and we have given them the intelligence at our disposal.
“They know how to do their job and we are confident they will get to the root of the matter.
“All I know is that we will soon be back on air after improving the security around our broadcast facilities across the state.”
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