The ruling
All Progressives Congress (APC), in Kogi State has called on Governor Yahaya
Bello to resign for registering twice for permanent voter card.
A Senator, Dino Melaye, made the
call on behalf of the party at a news briefing in Abuja on Friday.
The chairman of the APC in Kogi,
Hadi Ametuo, agreed with Mr. Melaye, adding that it was the position of the
party.
Mr. Melaye said the people of Kogi
State and the party were dissociating themselves from the act and called on Mr.
Bello to resign immediately or risk impeachment.
“This executive recklessness and
impunity is what we are reacting to.
“We are saying that as
stakeholders in Kogi politics and the All Progressives Congress (APC), we
condemn in its entirety the fraudulent behaviour of Yahaya Bello, the executive
governor of Kogi State.
“This criminal behaviour has
embarrassed the people of Kogi state and the APC. We dissociate ourselves from
this criminal behaviour.
“Kogi people are responsible
people and we expect to have a responsible governor. As at the time he was
contesting that election, it showed that he was not a registered voter in Kogi
state.
“Since he
knew he was not registered in the state, why did he in the first place accept
the candidacy of the party?
“So, on this note, we are calling immediately
for the resignation of the governor because a criminal awaiting trial cannot be
representing the people of Kogi state as governor.
“If he has integrity, he should
honourably resign and if the governor refuses to resign, we are going to
mobilise our members in the House of Assembly to start an impeachment process
against him.
“We will do this because we have a
valid point as expressed by INEC,’’ he said.
Mr. Melaye further said that
besides the move for impeachment, Kogi citizens would be mobilised to stage
peaceful protest in strategic locations across the country should he refuse to
resign.
He said the people would be
mobilised to INEC’s head office, the national secretariat of APC and strategic
locations in Lokoja to protest, adding that power belonged to the people.
The lawmaker emphasised that the
governor’s action was an embarrassment to the state and the party.
“He has disgraced the party we are
so proud of; he has disgraced the people of Kogi state enough by not paying
salaries.
“Our people are dying. This 419
entrant into government should cease and we are going to follow it to the
letter.
“This will give the APC electoral
deficit in 2019 if we did not separate Yahaya Bello from the APC.
“We will not allow him to destroy
this platform because it is still useful to many of us because we want to use
it in 2019.
“He must
be honourable enough to step aside because he who must go to equity must come
with clean hands.
“INEC said it contravenes the
provisions of the Electoral Act and that he has committed a crime and because
of his immunity they cannot prosecute him now.
“INEC said the second registration
has been cancelled and that the officer who went to conduct the registration
will face disciplinary action.
“INEC also said Government House
Lokoja is not a designated local government registration centre, meaning the
governor must have taken INEC to Government House either through corruption,
coercion or through diabolic means,” he said.
The chairman of APC in Kogi, Hadi
Ametuo, agreed with Mr. Melaye, adding that it was the position of the party.
He said,
“We know the law and INEC says it is criminal. We will abide by what Melaye has
just said. That is our position.’’
The call for the governor’s
resignation came on the heels of a statement from the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), saying Mr. Bello registered twice to vote.
INEC, in a statement issued in
Abuja on Thursday, accused Mr. Bello of double registration for Permanent Voter
Card in contravention of the Electoral Act.
The statement was issued by
Solomon Soyebi, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter
Education Committee.
The statement noted that Mr. Bello
had his first registration on Jan. 30, 2011 in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja and the
second registration on Tuesday, May 23, at the Government House, Lokoja.
It further noted that the
Government House was outside the designated centre for the ongoing nationwide
Continuous Voter Registration.
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