Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress in Kogi State, Usman Suleman, speaks to DANIEL AYANTOYE on the allegation of attack on the tribunal witnesses of the Social Democratic Party
The Social Democratic Party said some of its witnesses at the ongoing election tribunal were attacked by agents of the APC-led government. What’s your reaction to this?
First and foremost, who attacked them? I don’t have an idea of what you are saying because we don’t have any information about such an attack anywhere in the state. I don’t think there is anything as such that happened. I am aware that there is a crisis in Okene recently but I don’t think it is political. But based on the rumour, they said, the APC attacked them there. Why will the APC attack them? There is no truth in such an allegation.
The state government recently debunked the claim, but the party has insisted that the attack and intimidation of some of its witnesses have not stopped.
As I said, this is coming to my knowledge for the first time. Where and how? Attacking them on what ground? After we won the election, how can we be attacking them again, and for what purpose? We are in court and we are waiting for the court to take its decision.
But the SDP claimed that your party didn’t win the election and that the result was written in favour of your party. What is your reaction to this claim?
If our party didn’t win the election, how come we have our party’s candidate declared the winner by INEC? Our candidate is the present elected governor of the state. I don’t have much to tell them that since they have taken us to court, let us wait for the court to decide. By then, we will know who won and who lost the election.
This is not the first time the party has been raising allegations of attack on the APC-led government. Why is your party always having issues with the SDP?
I don’t know, but what I can say is that all these attacks that they are claiming, don’t have any evidence to show that the APC is involved. If they have, let them show the world, or go to court and prove the attack.
But several attacks on the SDP, including the burning of the secretariat before and during the election, were reported in the APC-led state. Are you saying your party is unaware of the attacks?
Listen, I will not lie to you. All those things they are saying were not orchestrated by the APC. Regarding the burning of their secretariat, we had they had a problem in that area in Kogi East, which led to a clash. When we heard it, we invited our people there, and told them we didn’t want violence in any part of the state. We knew that we would win the election; what was the essence of fighting? The immediate past governor intervened and cautioned them. But on the recent attack you are talking about, there is nothing like that. We are in court, why are we going to be attacking them?
The SDP claimed that your party is attacking them to intimidate the witnesses from speaking in court.
Can that be possible? You have submitted your evidence to the court. How is it possible to attack you again? We have our evidence, they have theirs. Let’s wait for the court. We don’t have any issue with any party.
Some youths under the aegis of the Kogi Independent Youth Association recently raised the alarm that some politicians were causing a crisis in the state. What is your take on this development?
If there is anything like that, I think the security agencies should intervene. The APC-led government is not here for violence, but to see how we can progress and ensure development in the state. If anybody is trying to create a problem in the state, the security agencies should go after them.
The group also said some aggrieved politicians were trying to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to cause crisis in the state. Don’t you think this is worrisome?
If anybody is trying to use the EFCC to cause problems, such a person is on his own. The EFCC officials are not fools. If they apprehend anyone and there is no evidence, they will leave the person. But if they have evidence, you cannot stop them from doing their job. All these claims, I don’t have any idea that such is happening in this state.
You are saying that what the APC government is concerned about is the development of the state. However, some people have said the immediate past government of the state failed in delivering development to the grassroots in the state. What can you say about that?
The previous government under the leadership of Alhaji Yahaya Bello did its best. There are lots of development projects that are completed. We never had it like this before. I can take you around the state to see all he did before he left office. The new governor, Alhaji Usman Ododo, has done very well even within the little time he assumed office. He took over from Alhaji Bello, and with the way he is going, you will see greater development in the state. We are proud of him. If not for the court case that is distracting him, but be rest assured the state is in safe hands.
