The Kogi west senatorial district was recently agog with a carnival like rally for the celebration of the victory of the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima. The victory rally was well attended by party chieftains and faithful who trooped out en mass to celebrate a ticket that sign post the renewed hope for development in all aspects of our national life.
The victory rally for the Tinubu/Shettima presidential election victory, attended by former chairmen, councillors, party chieftains and faithful, was a sight to behold as no less than 10 former chairmen of local governments, former house of assembly members, former councillors, chairmen of wards, and even members of the opposition parties who worked for the victory of Tinubu were in attendance. The mega rally, which was at the instance of Senator Smart Adeyemi, representing the good people of Kogi west, attracted over 5,000 party faithful. They came together in one accord to express their joy and appreciation for the senator coming to say thank you to party faithful and supporters for the epic victory.
The highlight of the carnival is the attendance and decamping of a former chairman of Ijumu local government area of Kogi state, Hon. Fred Dada. Dada said he was returning home to his former party, APC, because of Senator Smart Adeyemi, who is contesting the governorship of the state and, more importantly, now that his former party, PDP, has decided against picking someone from Kogi central as its candidate. He said PDP reserved the seat for Kogi west and this, for him, means going back to his former party to support the aspiration of Senator Adeyemi.
Adeyemi said the implication of such a position is that Kogi central is not fielding any candidate for the governorship seat, forcing him return to APC along with his supporters to support Senator Smart Adeyemi. The simple truth, he said, is that more and more people will be decamping for APC from Kogi west because of the governorship ambition of the district which time has come.
In decamping with his supporters at the event, Hon Dada put a question three times if the people of the district would only vote for candidates who are from Kogi west in the governorship election and three times the people answered in the affirmative.
Immediately after, Hon. Simon Nathaniel, a former chairman of Kabba-Bunu local government and former member of the state house of assembly, supported the motion that his people would only vote for whatever party that fielded only candidate from Kogi west. He equally put the question to vote and it was a resounding affirmative yes all the way because after 30 years of the creation of Kogi state, it is now time for the Kogi west to produce the next governor in the interest of peace, justice and stability of the state. Alhaji Yahaya Salisu and J. B Arojojoye spoke in the same vein and moved motions in this regard which had the affirmative approval of the over 5,000 party officials, leaders and faithful that indeed they have agreed to vote for only candidate from Kogi west fielded by any party for the guber polls.
In reply, Senator Smart Adeyemi, after thanking them for voting en mass for the Tinubu/Shettima ticket and for the victory of the APC in the district, alluded to the fact that he was contesting for the governorship of the state because it was indeed time for the district to produce a governor after supporting the two other brotherly districts to produce a governor.
He advised the APC in the state to replicate the doctrine which the northern governor’s and leaders used in zoning the party’s presidential ticket to the South at last year’s presidential primaries that produced Bola Tinubu from the South-west zone of the country as presidential candidate. This is because the same doctrine would be required for the Kogi west people to emerge as the governor of Kogi state in the next guber election in the state. He noted that if that doctrine can work at the federal level for the peace, stability and progress of the party, it can be replicated in Kogi state.
The senator acknowledged that providence has already embedded greatness in the state with mineral and tourism potential of the state that only need a leadership with vision, skills and determination to make the state work and bring out this greatness. He talked about steel and iron, he talked about crude oil, he talked about cement, he talked about the tourism potential of the state, he talked about the capacity of the state to generate solar energy, and the abundance of water in the state, all blessings that need a capable leadership to harness for the good of our people.
Adeyemi pledging to, as governor, build a modern conference centre that will be sited at the point of the confluence river to attract investments and recreation and a five-star hotel will equally be built and sited along that same river that will attract Nigerians and visitors from all over the world to Kogi state. He stated that each year of his administration, he would construct a fly over bridge to open up the state capital, Lokoja. He will construct a flyover on and around mont Patea that will form a new Lokoja town that would be a befitting city for everyone to be proud of rather than the small space that is being occupied and effort would be made to embark on agro-alied industry that will create job opportunities and empower the young generation to be self sustaining, among others, that he promised.
Wada writes from Lokoja, Kogi state
