The Kogi All Progressives Congress (APC) Guber Candidate, Mr Usmam Ododo, on Sunday unveiled a Primary School Teacher, Salifu Joel, as his running mate for Nov. 11 governorship election.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the running mate is the current Chairman of Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), and the Treasurer of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Kogi.

Gov Yahaya Bello, who spoke at the event at the Government House, said that the choice of Mr Joel, a class teacher and unionist as the deputy governorship candidate of the APC, was borne out of the party’s desire to carry every body along in its quest for the development of the state.

Bello assured that he would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the APC won the Nov 11 governorship election in the state.

“APC will follow and abide by all the existing electoral laws to win the Nov 11 election, more so that my administration has performed creditably well in the areas of provision of infrastructure, quality education, healthcare delivery, among others.

“We have shown competence, dedication, and Commitment to Kogi people in terms of performance to also ask for their votes in the next governorship election.

“In this dispensation, we won’t tolerate any politics of bitterness nor condone any act of political violence because Kogi as a state is bigger than any personal interest.

“Politics of ethnicity, religion will never be a barrier and has no place in Kogi, therefore, you should desist from any comment that can put you in trouble tomorrow, ” he warned.

Also, the State’s APC Chairman, Abdullahi Bello, congratulated the Kogi guber candidate and his running mate, and commended the governor for providing good leadership to the party.

He said it was ap and commendable, the choice of the running mate to Ododo, coming from a very critical section of the society as a teacher.

Joel said: “I am short of words for me as a classroom teacher to be nominated as the running mate and deputy governor to the APC guber candidate.”

“When I was first approached, from the bottom of my heart, I joyfully and heartily accepted the position, because it is divine.

“I wish to assure that I will do all I could to ensure that our party becomes victorious in the forthcoming governorship election, ” Joel assured after being picked as the running mate to the Kogi APC gubernatorial candidate.

In their goodwill messages, the National President of TUC, Mr Audu Anaba; Kogi NLC Chairman, Mr Gabriel Amari and the immediate past NLC Chairman, Edoka Onu; commended the governor for choosing one among the labour unions as Ododo’s running mate.

They assured the governor of their total support to mobilise votes for Ododo/Joel ticket to ensure that they emerged the next Governor and Deputy Governor of Kogi State. (NAN)

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday, called his witness to testify before the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, sitting in Abuja.

Atiku and his party are challenging the declaration of President Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of the presidential contest that held on February 25.

At the resumed proceedings of the court, Atiku’s first witness, Capt. Joe Agada, retd, told the court that he served as the State Collation Agent of the PDP in Kogi State, during the general election.

The witness, told the court that he was forced to sign result of the presidential election by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

According to him, the INEC officials, vowed not to give him a copy of the result to take back to his party, unless he signed the document.

Led in evidence by Atiku’s lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, the witness, maintained that result of the presidential election in Kogi State, was rigged.

He told the court that in over 20 polling units he visited, he observed how the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines, were manipulated

He said: “My lords, apart from where I voted, which was at Ogene- Oforachi village in Ogugu Ward in Kogi State, I also served as my party’s State Collation Agent.

“I had a tag and a vehicle with a sticker that identified me as being on election duty. The exemption tag which was issued to me by INEC, allowed me to move around on the election day.

“I had the opportunity of visiting some highlighted polling units in my LGA, even though I did not visit all the polling units.”

While being cross-examined by counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr. Abdullahi Aliyu, SAN, the witness said it would be correct to say that he observed all the manipulations that took place in Kogi state during the election.

“My lords, I am a witness of truth. I did not visit all the polling units but I was present when BVAS in over 20 PUs were being manipulated across the two Senatorial Districts that I visited.

“I may not be exact, but there are nothing less than 3500 polling units in Kogi State.

“I spent between three to five minutes in each of the polling units that I visited,” the witness added.

Asked if agents of the PDP signed the result sheets, the witness, said: “Yes, our agents signed the Forms EC8A, EC8B and EC8C.

“But they were forced to sign the results, especially in Kogi state, because INEC said they would not give us copies unless we signed.”

Answering questions from one of the lawyers that appeared for President Tinubu, Chief Akin Olujinmi, SAN, the witness, said the PDP had agents in all the polling units in the state.

Asked if as the State Collation Agent of the PDP, he signed the result sheet, he said: “My lords, I was forced to sign the state collection result because without signing, they said they would deny me a copy to take to my party.

“I thereafter protested and also wrote a petition to INEC,” the witness told the court, even as he admitted that he served as State Collation Agent for the PDP in 2015 and also appeared as a witness in the 2019 presidential election dispute between Atiku and former President Muhammadu Buhari.

“In 2015, I refused to sign the result. But at that time, INEC did not deny me a copy to take to my party. But this year, the INEC man insisted that they would not give me a copy unless I signed the result,” Capt. Agada, retd, added.

A Commissioner in Anambra State, Mr. Sly Ezeokenwa has emerged the new National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Okenwa, a legal practitioner, defeated his co-contestants to emerge victorious in the election that held at the Party’s Regional Secretariat in Awka on Wednesday.

The new APGA National Chairman is the Commissioner for Special Duties under Governor Chukwuma Soludo as well as the National Legal Adviser of APGA.

Shortly after emerging the winner of the keenly-contested election, he was sworn-in alongside the newly elected National Officers of the Party.

Other contestants in the National Chairmanship election include Hon Chief Ben Nwankwo, who is a former House of Representatives member and a 2023 senatorial aspirants for Anambra South; Sir Norbert Obi, who is the immediate-past Chairman of APGA in Anambra State and Barr. Tony Ifeanya, who is the immediate-past Secretary of APGA and Commissioner for Petroleum.

Ezeokenwa took over from the outgone National Chairman, Victor Oye, who had been in the position for the past eight years.