By Richard Elesho
The Kogi State chapter of Social Democratic Party, SDP, has denied reports of mass defection of its members and leaders to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, ahead of the state’s November governorship election.
The SDP described the reports of the defection widely circulated on Thursday as crude, dishonest, and part of the antics of desperate politicians ahead of the 11 November governorship election in a statement by its Kogi Publicity Secretary, Yahaya Bahawudeen.
Bahawudeed, in the statement issued on Friday, said it was curious that the story of the mass defection was not supported with any pictorial or video evidence.
While insisting that no single member of the state EXCO had dumped the party, Bahawudeen said the story is part of the crude campaign of falsehood aimed at disparaging the SDP and its candidate, Alh. Murtala Ajaka.
He accused the Kogi State government of concocting and spreading the story of defection which he des described as fake news against the SDP.
“No single member of the executive of the SDP in Kogi has decamped or defected to the APC. The name of the Zonal Chairman of Kogi East is Pastor Sunday Atabor; That of Kogi Central is Musa Salawu Odogba, while the Zonal Chairman of Kogi West District is Hon Emmanuel Adebayo A.
“All these Zonal Chairmen and the LG Chairmen are not only steadfastly in the party, they are by the grace of God leading the charge to dislodge Bello and his cabinet of gangs of thugs from the governance of our dear state.
“The names Suleiman Isah and Zubairu Ibrahim given as Zonal Chairmen of Kogi East and Central, which was contained in Mr Bello’s press statement, are fictitious.
“These are not existing human beings, and we challenge Mr Bello to produce them to contradict us.
“We call on media houses to be circumspect of stories emanating from the stable of this criminally deluded governor who can no longer tell the difference between reality and fiction.
“We call on the good people of Kogi State to ignore Mr Bello’s desperate falsehoods. Neither his acts of sustained violence of his newfound pass time for falsehood will save him, and his puppet from a disgraceful defeat come November 11, which is exactly three months from today.
