Kogi Guber: Genuine Dialogue Will Address Marginalisation – SDP Chieftain

• Urges Okun community to support SDP candidate, Ajaka 

A Chieftain of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Hon Ben Adaji has said that it is only through genuine dialogue and understanding that the issue of marginalisation in Kogi State can be constructively addressed.

Adaji said such constructive dialogue shall be distinct and different from the violence that is the style of Governor Yahaya Bello-led administration in the state, stressing that while the people of Kogi State are peace-loving, they would not tolerate any attempt at thwarting the will of the majority.

Therefore, he said in order to restore the arrangement of balanced and equitable representation in the state which was put in place for the consideration of the Okun people prior to the death of former Kogi State Governor, Prince Abubakar, there was a need for all sons and daughters of Kogi to support the governorship candidate of the SDP for the November election in the state.

Adaji particularly called on the people of the Okun community in the Kogi West Senatorial district of the state to throw their weight behind Murtala Yakubu Ajaka, the Governorship candidate of SDP in order to address the marginalization they are facing.

Adaji stated these while reacting to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration to the elders of the Okun community who visited him at the presidential villa penultimate week.

According to Adaji, who was the House of Representatives candidate on the platform of the SDP for Ankpa, Olamaboro, and Omala federal constituency in the 2023 general elections, Ajaka holds the answers to resolving issues of marginalization in the state.

Okun elders led by Professor Michael Ikupolati during the visit complained of marginalisation against the Okun people in the political arrangements of Kogi State since its creation in 1992.

Adaji while commending President Tinubu for his fatherly advice by telling the Okun elders that politics is a game of numbers and the need to negotiate their way out of marginalization, said that Ajaka, who is aware of the power arrangements in the state even before the demise of the late Abubakar Audu, will give the Okun people a strong voice if elected.

He further said; “I  was privy to the arrangement for power shift for the Okun people to produce the next Governor of Kogi State in 2015 after Price Abubakar Audu’s four years tenure and that was why Hon. James Abiodun Faleke was picked to deputise Audu before death struck in 2015, thereby destabilizing the arrangement. “

Adaji, who is also a veteran journalist and a security expert in the field of Human security and counter-terrorism, called on the elders of Okun to go back to the drawing board and engage Ajaka in a similar dialogue with the view to realizing the dream.

He advised Governor Bello, who ascended the office through providence to count himself lucky rather than thinking that he is invincible, adding; “It is sad that today, the governor has turned against the Igala people who gave him overwhelming support and has chosen to impose his cousin Usman Ododo on the people of Kogi even if it is through the barrel of the gun.”

In the words of Adaji; “Governor Bello should learn from President Tinubu, who has come out clearly to declare that democracy is a game of numbers and cannot be done through the barrel of the gun. He must allow a level playing ground for the people to come out and elect a governor of their choice.”

Adaji lamented that the Igalas, Ibiras, and the Okuns who were hitherto brothers and sisters now engage themselves like cat and dog because Governor Bello has created serious division amongst them.

“I want to say in clear terms that Ajaka is a unifier who has come to liberate the people of the state from dictatorship. The people know this and they will be voting irrespective of political affiliation. They will be considering individual’s capacity instead of party lines,” Adaji said.

Consequently, he enjoined the Okun and Ibiras to support Ajaka and vote massively for the SDP in the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in the overall interest of the State.