Former Senator who represented Kogi East Senatorial District from 1999 to 2003, Alex Usman Kadiri has lamented killings by thugs and thuggery activities ahead of November 11 Governorship election in Kogi State.
The ex-lawmaker who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress reacted to killing and arrest of some APC thugs at Anyigba last Saturday when governor Yahaya Bello visited Ankpa to present a staff of office to the newly installed Ejeh, said, the affairs of APC has been mismanaged in the State for the past seven years.
He noted that APC cannot win election amid killings which he described as shameful, noting that the opposition got stronger in the State due to wrongs of the party.
He berated the leadership of the APC for ignoring his counsels, stressing that they were part of the conundrum because of money coming from Kogi State to their pockets.
He noted: “Kogi money would not allow people at the National Secretariat to be sincere. That is why there is no development in Kogi State. I do not belong to another party and I will continue to talk about the party till I die because that is where I am currently.
“Please, the bloodletting that is going on in Kogi State, they are killing my people and this should also worry the Governor of the State, it should also worry the APC as a party.
“The day I saw the new National chairman visiting Kogi and laughing away and boasting in Government House it is a big shame. What did he see in Lokoja to warrant him laughing, after the governor’s 7 years in office.
“The road to government house is so bad that you will not believe that it is a Local Government headquarters and he went there with his team and were there laughing.
“Yahaya Bello promised them he will deliver Kogi State. My party is at fault, they may not want to admit this and I know they will rather go and start insulting me on the pages of newspapers and Television.
“But what have we done in Kogi state to warrant people voting for APC, except killings left, right and center. Our people are dying all the young boys have guns, rockets and bombs.”
Senator Kadiri blamed Security agents for pretending not to know that guns and dangerous weapons are in hands of people illegally.
“I asked myself, the police, the DSS and all the security agencies are they not aware of the number of guns circulating in Kogi State. Will they claim ignorance.
“Can they claim they have no means of knowing where these guns are? Can they claim they don’t know who the hoodlums are? Could they claim that they don’t know who is sponsoring all these people.
“In their usual way they will say, go and arrest Alex Kadiri and quizz me to write the names of the people. Stupid way of investigation. The security agencies are not helping the people of Kogi State. They ought to know the fact.
“My people are dying everyday, one person today, two persons another day. Why, why. Is democracy by force?
“The party is wasting human lives in Kogi State not just my Senatorial District and all those who come from Kogi everybody is quiet not because they like what is going on in Kogi.
“Everybody is scared and is afraid for his live. I am 81 and I am going towards 82, if I die today, I am okay but I have children and grand children. What is going on is a very bad example. Very very bad example.
“Very silly and traumatic example for any group of persons and we are distroying citizens of Kogi State. Instead of Government using money for development, they are using it to buy guns, hire thugs, buy sienna buses and they go around terrorizing the entire State.
“It is wrong. That is not democracy. But the APC. What they care about is election victory
“I want to address the issue of insecurity in Kogi State
I am an APC member and all attempts to use the boys in my ward to suspend or expel me has failed. I am aware of all that.
“I have not resigned from the party and I will continue to speak the truth to power as long as I am alive. My country is burning, my state is dying, I can not fold my hands and keep quiet.
“What is going on in Kogi between the APC and SDP as parties and their gubernatorial candidates in the persons of Ododo and Muri is a shame to democracy.
“I had seen this much earlier and I complained to my party. I wrote to the National Chairman of APC after pressures even from the Presidency because I also copied the President. The APC set up a reconcilliation committee.
“I led a 49 member delegation to meet with the Committee. We presented the position of my group of stakeholders a 45 minute presentation to the committee made up of the late Tony Momoh, Zaman, Shagaya and us.
“They did all they could to disrupt that presentation, a lot of them challenged me that did they mandate me to make any presentation?
“The Committee could not get the governor to state his own part.
When the party did nothing, I protested again. I am used to following constitutional means of doing things; I followed this laid down pathway to resolving issues.
“I took time again to now write to the National chairman, then it became Adam’s Oshiomhole. I addressed to Oyegun, I addressed to Oshiomhole. Munir was the National Secretary at that time they were all in the picture what I am saying.
“Oshiomhole now set up another committee headed this time by General Garba Niger, Mrs Etteh Former Speaker, Don Etiebet were all members of this committee.
“The committee listened to us, they wanted to tag my Committee a tribal Committee and I disabled their minds because the day we formed the committee, I went to Senator Ohiare, Abdullahi Bello from Central, Olafemi from West, many others and myself.
“The Committee left here for Lokoja to meet with Yahaya Bello. They got there, he was not available only for them to return to Abuja and the Chairman ran into the governor inside the APC national headquarters and they quarreled.
“Till today, the party has not said anything, whether the governor is wrong or you are right, these are things we want to do to correct the situation.”
