Kogi West: let’s finish race with wider margin, Adeyemi urge party members

James Azania, Lokoja

 

Senator Smart Adeyemi of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged party members not to over relax, but give their all to win next Saturday’s Kogi West supplementary poll.

The APC candidate is already leading his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opponent and current member representing the district at the National Assembly, Senator Dino Melaye, with over 20, O00 votes in the last Saturday Appeal Court ordered rerun.

Adeyemi spoke Friday, in Lokoja, on the sideline of INEC’s pronouncement of the date of the exercise.

He said that despite having a comfortable lead, the party must not give in to overconfidence, but should rather double its efforts.

According to him, “We as party members must mobilize and fight like never before, for the remaining votes. We must commence house to house move and telephone contact of the 30,000 PVC holders.

“We must not look at the supplementary election with a view that our opponent is politically paralyzed by now. We must work towards capturing at least 90 percent of the vote.

“Our aim is to get 30,000 out of the 31,000 PVC holders of the 40,000 registered voters in the affected areas; whether our opponents are ready or not is secondary.”

He commended party members for their support and solidarity, particularly in the last Saturday outing, and called on them to finish the race with wider margin.

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“I sincerely thank you for your support and solidarity in the last Saturday outing, my full address will be after the rerun election is concluded.

“But for now, let us resume with more vigour and determination in our efforts towards the November 30 supplementary election. Let us go from house to house to mobilize people out for the exercise. We must give the election our all,” he said.

INEC had last Sunday declared the Kogi West rerun inconclusive.

The supplementary is to be conducted in 53 polling units.

According to the INEC data, 48,101 are the registered voters in the affected areas, out of which 30,730 have collected their PVC.

Adeyemi (APC) has already polled 80,118, while Melaye (PDP) scored 59,548 giving a margin of 20,670.