Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has attacked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after gunmen invaded the party’s governorship primary early Wednesday.
The venue of the primary, Lokoja Confluence Stadium, was invaded by gunmen during the sorting of votes around 1:45 am.
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Reports say the officials had counted votes in eight out of 10 ballot boxes before the invasion.
Aspirants, delegates and others scampered for safety following the shooting.
Chairman of the electoral committee, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, also escaped harm.
Bello, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 16 election, said in a statement on Wednesday by his chief press secretary, Muhammed Onogwu, that he was disappointed at the ‘unholy’ incident.
The statement said: “The governor remonstrated with the opposition PDP for failing to keep the law, especially as the rival All Progressives Congress (APC) which is the governor’s party had demonstrated less than a week ago that such events can hold without unwelcome incidents of any kind.
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“The Kogi State helmsman who said details of the shooting were still sketchy noted that the gunfire incident may not be unconnected with the usual do-or-die politics of some of the opposition aspirants whose desperation to win at all costs has led to so violence and crises in the state, including this one.
“The governor directed the security agencies to get to the roots of the matter immediately, declaring that it portended grave danger to the state’s gubernatorial elections scheduled for November 16. He promised to update the public as soon as he has been fully briefed by the law enforcement agencies.”
