Kogi Guber Elections: Accept Defeat Like True Democrats": APC Caucus Tells Adeyemi, Ajaka, Others

Kogi Guber Elections: Accept Defeat Like True Democrats": APC Caucus Tells Adeyemi, Ajaka, Others

  • Top members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have called on those who lost in the party's governorship primary in Kogi state to accept defeat
  • The caucus in a message on Saturday, April 15, called on a Kogi state lawmaker, Smart Adeyemi, to act like a true democrat
  • According to the party members, contenders must understand that they should demonstrate a genuine spirit of sportsmanship by accepting the results

Some stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress have urged the losers of Friday, April 14, governorship primary in Kogi state to show the virtues of true democrats by accepting defeat without bitterness or resentment.

The APC Rebirth Coalition in Kogi (APC-RCK) made this call on Saturday in reaction to the outcome of the exercise.

Smart Adeyemi, Kogi state guber, APC, 2023 general election
Smart Adeyemi and other Kogi state governorship candidates have been urged to accept defeat. Photo: Nigerian Senate
Source: Twitter

Recall that a former Auditor General of Local Government in the state, Usman Ododo, emerged as the winner of the primary election held on Friday, April 14.

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The exercise was conducted in the 239 wards across the 21 local government areas of Kogi.

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Ododo who polled 78,704 votes to defeat the six other contestants was ratified as the party's flagbearer at a special congress on Saturday.

The aspirants who lost include Senator Smart Adeyemi, former Minister of State Labour and Productivity, Professor Stephen Ocheni, son of late ex-Governor Abubakar Audu, Shuiabu, and a member of the National Working Committee of the APC, Murtala Yakubu Ajaka.

In a press statement signed by Arome Opaluwa and Zekeriya Adegbe, its president and secretary-general respectively, the group urged the contenders to demonstrate a genuine spirit of sportsmanship by accepting the results.

The APC Rebirth Coalition said:

"In every competition, someone has to win and someone has to lose, but those who lost should not abandon the party or lose their enthusiasm for the advancement of the party.

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"In politics, there is always another opportunity, sometimes better than the present. Hence don't lose hope permanently because tomorrow could present another prospect.
"The objective is to have a strong party that can beat the Peoples' Democratic Party and others at the polls. This is the time to build structures around to ensure we deliver our candidate.
"We should therefore work together for the success of the APC despite the defeat. A house divided among itself can not stand. The APC is our home and we can't burn it down.
"As demonstrated by His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, our party is committed to a people-oriented government against personalized democracy. We must consolidate the achievements of the outgoing leader who has set our state on the path to progress and prosperity in line with his New Direction Agenda".

The group, however, urged Ododo to be gracious in victory, adding that he should see his emergence as a public trust for a better Kogi.

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Tension heightens as 4 APC prominent leaders reject guber primary result

About four aspirants of the APC who contested the party's governorship primary in Kogi state have rejected the outcome of the poll.

The four aggrieved candidates led by Senator Smart Adeyemi of Kogi West are calling on the party's national leaders not to allow the outcome of the election to stand.

They alleged that there was no election, but Ahmed Usman Ododo, a former auditor general of the state, was earlier announced as the winner.

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The senator also made a similar call to Abdullahi Adamu, the APC national chairman and the national working committee of the party.

Earlier on Friday, before the election, about six governorship aspirants of the APC stepped down for Ododo following his endorsement by Governor Yahaya Bello of the Kogi.

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The endorsement was also witnessed by the chairman of the electoral committee, Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state.

Source: Legit.ng

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