The senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Sunday Karimi, has said the people of Kogi State do not need to be bullied into voting President Bola Tinubu in 2027.
The senator was reacting to the endorsement rally for President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman hosted in Lokoja the Kogi State capital by the All Progressives Congress, (APC), led by former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello and Senator Smart Adeyemi, who served as the chairman of the rally committee.
According to a statement issued yesterday by Busayo Tosin, for the Media Office Senator Karimi, the senator noted that it was insensitive, unnecessary and preemptive to have organised a rally which kept people beneath the blazing sun, in the name of an election which is still over one year ahead.
Reenacting parliamentary tradition which was alien to the crowd at the rally, Bello had requested those in favour of the reelection of President Tinubu to respond by saying aye, while those against should say nay.
Responding to the response by the crowd, Karimi said the people of Kogi State do not need to be bullied or coerced into reelecting the President.
According to Karimi: “East, Central, West, the people of Kogi State appreciate Mr President. They can see he is doing his best to make life better for them. He has increased allocations to the state and the local government areas; he has recognised Kogi sons and daughters by way of appointments; work is progressing gradually on development projects across the state.”
“On merit, President Tinubu will be unbeatable come 2027. The groundswell of support for him is evident in the numbers that are joining the movement for his continuation in office after 2027 by the day. Stakeholders who love him should ensure that his best intentions are translated to the pockets and dining tables of Nigerians. That is the least we can do to support his good heart,” he said.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Services, noted that the Kogi State electorate is too mature, too civilised and too sophisticated to be marched out like school children in the name of what he described as a “panic, self-serving rally.”
President Tinubu, he restated, has courageously touched on the nation’s developmental fundamentals and earned popular support to continue in office after 2027.
“We are not in the Stone Age. Kogi West alone has over 12 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs). Politicians should stop misrepresenting our people as primitives,” Karimi said.
Recall that the APC in Kogi State, on Saturday unanimously endorsed President Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the Kogi State Governor Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo for a second term in office in 2027.
The endorsement marked the climax of the Mother of All Rallies organised by the APC stakeholders in the state under the chairmanship of Senator Smart Adeyemi.
Leader of APC in Kogi state and former governor of the state, Yahaya Adoza Bello, formally moved a motion for the endorsement of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu for a second term in office. Chairman of the organizing committee Senator Smart Adeyemi seconded the motion.
In a separate motion, Yahaya Bello as APC leader in the state also moved another motion for the endorsement of Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for a second term in office, the speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Hon Aliyu Umar Yusuf seconded the motion.
Earlier in his remarks, the leader of Kogi APC ex-Gov Yahaya Bello said, “Today we are here for a single purpose, to endorse our father, leader, mentor, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu for him to recontest in 2027.”
According to Yahaya Bello, “We have three reasons why Kogi State is endorsing President Tinubu. He has laid his life for democracy in Nigeria. Tinubu as a person has remained persistent and consistent in his beliefs for Nigerian progress.
Secondly, President Tinubu is a humanist, a leader without boundary, he has mentored this generation of democrats like us, and he gave us the opportunity to be where we are in Kogi State.
“Thirdly, Tinubu is the founder of APC in Nigeria, without his vision and progressive ideas there would not have been APC in Nigeria and Africa today.
“Above all, Tinubu was created with a special grace of God, and no one can fight that grace and succeed. I therefore encourage everyone who loves this country to support President Tinubu’s second term in office”.
Earlier in a welcome address, chairman of the rally organising committee Senator Smart Adeyemi said, “Today is historic in Kogi State political history. We are gathered in this mother of all endorsements, and we do so boldly because we have a structure that can win in all elections.”
