Stakeholders of the All-Progressives Congress in Kogi State have urged the public to disregard what they termed as blatant falsehood being circulated by aspirants who lost in the party’s direct governorship primary election, which held on Friday.
According to the stakeholders, under the aegis of Ijumu APC Progressive Minds, the falsehood is being spearheaded by Senator Smart Adeyemi, who currently represents Kogi West Senatorial District in the National Assembly.
While stressing that Friday’s APC Governorship Primary was the fairest and freest ever, the APC chieftain alleged that Smart Adeyemi’s desperate attempt to fault the process was borne out of “his desperation to work with certain elements whose satanic agenda is to ensure our dear party is unable to present a candidate for the November 11 Governorship Poll in the state.”
APC Stalwart and President, Ijumu APC Progressive Minds, Kamaldeen Toyin, who briefed the press, stated, “It has become imperative to address you to set the record straight in the face of the glaring misinformation and blatant falsehood being circulated by the thoroughly defeated Sen. Smart Adeyemi. Friday’s primary election offered us the opportunity to show the failed Senator his scorecard.
“As a people, we are not surprised that Senator Smart Adeyemi is attacking Governor Yahaya Bello today. It is his character to repay good with evil. He has made every of his helper regret their benevolence.
“After his ill-fated failure in the 2015 election where he was washed away by the Buhari hurricane; it was the Governor that rehabilitated the political destitute called Smart Adeyemi and brought his political career back to life. We warned the Governor then about our son that he is a snake, that no matter how good you are to him, he will bite you. That is exactly what Senator Smart Adeyemi is doing now.
“The reason the Governor gave for supporting Sen. Smart Adeyemi in 2019 was to push him for the Senate Presidency. It was a selfless Agenda to position Kogi State strategically for development. Today, Senator Smart Adeyemi has forgotten the past and living true to his character of ingratitude, falsehood and all sorts of evil machinations he is known for whenever he loses a political contest.
“Friday’s APC Governorship Primary was the fairest and the freest ever. We commend Governor Bello Matawalle and his team for the standard process. It was devoid of rancour and violence as the financial members of the party expressed their power and right to nominate the candidate of their choice.
“Smart Adeyemi’s desperate attempt to fault the process was borne out of his desperation to work with certain elements whose satanic agenda is to ensure our dear party is unable to present a candidate for the November 11 Governorship Poll in the state. With the successful conduct of the Governorship primary, their aim has been declared offside and defeated.
“As witnessed in all the parts of the state, financial members came out massively in Ijumu to vote according to the dictates of their conscience. Smart Adeyemi, despite being from Ijumu Local Government Area, lost woefully to Ahmed Usman Ododo. It was a referendum on his woeful performance as a third term Senator. It is therefore not expected that the fairly beaten child is crying.
“We wish to call on the leadership of our party to investigate how non-members of the APC were hurriedly given membership cards strongly suspected to be fake. They could give fake cards, but they couldn’t fabricate payment of dues for them. It is therefore ludicrous to display wanton desperation and falsehood that the process was faulty.
“Before the primary, Sen. Smart Adeyemi’s only joker was ethnicity. He claimed to be fighting for “justice and fairness”. He didn’t remember justice and fairness when in 2015, after spending two terms in the Senate, he refused to allow the seat rotate to Yagba.
“He fraudulently and violently seized the ticket of the PDP, only for Sen. Dino Melaye to fly on the wings of the Buhari Tsunami to defeat him. In 2019, he was able to win the support of the Governor who rallied support for him to win the ticket of the party. In 2023, he wanted to go for his 4th Term, when Yagba Federal Constituency had not produced a Senator. To him, such was “just and fair”. To Smart Adeyemi, it can only be considered fair when he wins. Loss means injustice to him.
“As members of the party in Ijumu Local Government Area, we commend the Governor for allowing a level playground for all the contestants. That process has produced the best candidate and we are confident of victory in November. We also call on the APC in Ijumu Local Government Area to immediately commence expulsion proceedings against Smart Adeyemi as he has become cancerous to our party,” he noted.
