The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai’s decision to kneel down to publicly apologise to Kogi people ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in the state has confirmed that “even the All Progressives Congress (APC) agrees that Governor Yahaya Bello does not merit a second term.”
It said that El-Rufai should rather assist Bello to prepare his handover notes because the governor would surely “face a crushing defeat” at the polls.
El-Rufai, who is the chairman of the APC Campaign Council in Kogi, had on Thursday knelt before the people of Kogi and asked them to forgive Governor Bello and re-elect him on Saturday.
But the PDP reacting in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, pointed that that the genuflection by El-Rufai was also a direct confirmation that Bello cannot lay claim to any genuine vote at the November 16 governorship election.
The PDP noted that the Edo State deputy governor, Philip Shuaibu, also knelt before the Kogi people to beg for Bello, which further showed that it was public knowledge that the governor misused the opportunity given to him to lead the state.
The party said: “Unfortunately, the apology is coming too late in the day and cannot be accepted by the people of Kogi state, whose lives, Yahaya Bello had turned into a living hell in the last four years.
“Moreover, Yahaya Bello openly confirmed that he is irredeemable as he stood without any sign of remorse while El-Rufai and the Edo State deputy governor begged the unimpressed scanty crowd.
“Governor El-Rufai and the APC ought to have counseled Yahaya Bello at the time he was busy suppressing, insulting, abusing and making life unbearable for the people of Kogi State as if there will not be a day of reckoning.
“The irreversible fact is that the day of reckoning has come. The people of Kogi State have moved beyond
Yahaya Bello and the APC. They are already moving on with the PDP candidate, Engr. Musa Wada, in their determination for a new order in their state and there is no looking back.
“PDP advises Governor El-Rufai to assist Governor Bello in preparing his handover notes as he will surely face a crushing defeat at the polls, come Saturday, November 16th.”