There is always a time or season in the life of a man to take a bold decision that will reshape and usher in a positive change in his life pattern for better. As a people from Kogi State, it is another governorship election year which also gives another great opportunity to all to scout round for a personified individual to govern the state.
It is now in the public domain that the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor of Kogi State on Special Projects, Hon. Ibrahim G. Itodo has been going out of his way wooing, anchoring and meeting a number of registered political parties under the aegis of the United Progressive Political Parties {UPPP} Kogi State chapter just like the role he played during the presidential election, to solicit support for Alhaji Usman Ododo, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 11th November 2023 governorship election. Very recently, a historical decision was taken by the group made up of ten active registered political parties to throw their weights and support towards the candidacy of Alhaji Usman Ododo in the November 11th, 2023 governorship election for continuity and consolidation of APC government in Kogi State to align with the federal government of President Bola Tinubu.
Hon. Itodo held series of meetings with some leaders and representatives of these ten political parties under the aegis of United Progressive Political Party (UPPP)
The group collectively and openly agreed to endorse Alhaji Usman Ododo of the APC. According to the group, Kogi State is aggressively in need of a progressive leader whose objective is to hit the ground running as soon as he is sworn-in. It is a fact that, there are several candidates jostling for the exalted position but only one of them, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo is most eminently qualified candidate for the position.
The United Progressive Political Parties is an offshoot of political parties that focuses strictly on progressive democratic development and not on divisive policies.
It is interesting to note that the members of the United Progressive Political Parties [UPPP] in Kogi State collectively and carefully profiled all governorship candidates and then resolved to settle for the candidacy of Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo. The group settled for the APC candidate “because of his track records, he is someone who has been schooled and mentored under Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration and has also travelled the length and breadth of Kogi State to assess the needs of the people and therefore, he is not new to the intricacies of leadership or governance in the New Direction Agenda of Alhaji Yahaya Bello. We in UPPP, have always maintained that no candidates of any political party will be supported to rule Kogi state again without proper mentorship because instead of moving forward such a person will start learning on the job.”
The United Progressive Political Parties is today supporting Ododo Usman/Oyibo Joel in the November 2023 election, the group is not blinded by any sentimental, sectional or parochial agenda, but rather, it carefully analyzed the modest achievements of Alh. Yahaya Bello, the group then decided to give its total support to Ododo and the Kogi Agenda because of the mentorship Ododo has received from Alh. Yahaya Bello, the current Governor of Kogi State, who has done his best for the people of Kogi State in the last eight years or thereabouts. Now, the onus lies on the successor to take off from where he will be stopping. What the electorate expect from every candidate is to tell Kogites what he would do differently from what the out-going governor has done.
The association is not in support of any personal attack on Alhaji Yahaya Bello, he is the current governor of the state and he deserves some respect as the leader of the state because all leaders according to the holy books are ordained by God. The group would not condone any derogatory or campaign of calumny from any candidate or quarters before, during and after the election because that would be the easy pathway to political violence. Politicians are advised not to create unnecessary tension and weep up sentiments of ethnicity and sectionalism in order to secure political advantage. Leadership is not about brilliance, exposure, wealth, or academic qualification only, but God chooses people and qualify them in the process of “time and chance’
According to the group, Alhaji Ododo is humility personified, he knows exactly what he wants to do especially as a product of Alhaji Yahaya Bello, a man properly mentored, processed and who believes that leadership is ordained by God.
The members of the United Progressive Political Parties have analyzed the chances of APC and its candidate as well as the structure of APC which were also critically examined and they discovered that the only political party well-grounded in terms of capacity, competence and commitment to win an election at any day in the present Kogi State is the All Progressives Congress (APC). The group said Alhaji Ododo has the much needed pre-requisites, attributes and political leadership qualities to lead the state to the next stage of its development.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) under His Excellency, President Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has already demystified the old narrative of winner take all syndrome by political parties to create an all- inclusive government, we must unite under All Progressives Congress to solidify the gains of democracy in the last eight years in the state.
The group called on all candidates to play the game by its rules to show maturity, steadfastness and the love for Kogites and appealed to all Kogites to rally round APC to retain the Lugard House. It The assured all political parties that under Ahmed Usman Ododo there will be fairness and equity if he wins the November election.
The group assured Kogites that the next dispensation would not witness winner take all syndrome that has created hatred and agitations. The UPPP will push for a united Kogi State, where all Kogites shall enjoy dividends of democracy under Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo’s leadership by the grace of God.
In one of the unique meetings held in Lokoja, the United Progressive Political Parties in Kogi State issued a press statement condemning the prevailing insecurity situation in Kogi State and also decried the crooked manner of politicking as well as the hostile campaign style of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in the November election as being too crude, blood-letting, violent-packed and out of tune to the modern day democracy. According to the group, they are compelled as an association to advise the flag-bearer of the SDP and his entire team to play the game of politics by its rules as stipulated by the Nigerian electoral laws, “we have observed with keen interest since the commencement of the party campaigns that the candidate of the SDP is the only candidate that is seriously associated with huge violent attacks on their political opponents across the state especially in recent times.” The entire members of the UPPP are calling on all the leaders of the SDP in Kogi State to go extra miles to instill discipline in their party and shun all vices that may mar a free and fair election in the state. Violence will not win an election. No at all!
Also, when you listen to the SDP candidate during his recent interview on the Channels Television with Mr. Ayo Okinbaloye, a journalist, one will sadly say that majority of the people were highly disappointed in all his uninspiring responses to all the questions put to him, most especially on his academic qualifications and other sundries, which he couldn’t answer satisfactorily but went ahead to weep up ethnic sentiments in the state. He never showed any intelligence throughout the interview.
In his words, Hon. Itodo who singlehandedly anchored various meetings said, “as seasoned politicians in the state, the group knows the pedigree, capacity and competence of all the candidates standing for various political parties, the choice of Alhaji Usman Ododo is based on his humility, dexterity and doggedness in his ability to face the realities of governance where the poorest of the poor would be given a role to participate”. He urged Kogites to work together for the future of Kogi State of our dream.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor went further to say he has very good understanding of the goal of Ododo’s administration come 2024, which is to create a new Kogi State that values hard-work, self-actualization rather than dependency. The administration aims at creating Kogi State that Kogites can be proud to belong and grateful to inhabit, a state that promotes self-reliance, entrepreneurship, innovation, rewards hard-work, protects its people and their property, and offers its children better prospects than those they may want to seek in Europe, and North America.
Hon. Itodo said, the UPPP is ever ready to ensure massive mobilization of their entire members to support this young man whose time has come to move the entire State to the path of development. He appealed to Kogites to go all-out and vote en masse for the candidate of the APC, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, in the upcoming gubernatorial election in the State. According to Hon. Itodo, the leadership of Alhaji Ododo is out to consolidate and rebuild Kogi State, a state that would endure and grow exceedingly. Ten political parties are today united progressively for Ododo, let us vote for Ododo/Oyibo and the APC.