With Mumini Abdulkareem
The Kwara State Chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has said
that it will use the gubernatorial poll scheduled for November 16th in
Kogi State as a launch pad to change the phase of governance across
the country.
Chairman of the party in the state, Lekan Alabi told this medium
during a telephone chat that the party is confident of producing the
first female governor in the country with its candidate for the poll.
The SDP is fielding Barrister Natasha Akpoti to challenge Governor
Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Musa Mohammed
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Akpoti is presently in court challenging her disqualification by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and accused the
commission of working to rig for the governor.
She is also challenging the eligibility of Governor Bello to contest
the November 16 Kogi poll, alleging double registration.
The country is yet to have its first female governor after over fifty
years of its independence amidst growing calls to give women more
participation in governance.
Speaking on the prospect of the SDP and its candidate in Kogi, Alabi
said the SDP will use Kogi as stepping stone in Nigeria.
“The SDP will be the first party to produce a female governor in
Nigeria and that will happen in the forthcoming Kogi State election.
We have to start somewhere and we are using Kogi as a stepping stone.
The CPC, literarily the ruling party in Nigeria today, won only in
Nasarawa state at inception during the gubernatorial election before
2015. We have to start somewhere and we are using Kogi as a stepping
stone. And with our candidate, we believe we are good to go and that
is why you can see all the intrigues about the election in the state
to disenfranchise our candidate, Natasha Akpoti, but we are ready to
prove them wrong”, he added.
