Kogi: APC, SDP trade blame over alleged attack on tribunal’s secretary

The two leading parties in the just concluded governorship election in Kogi State, the All Progressives Congress and its main opposition, Social Democratic Party, have again engaged in a war of words over an alleged attack on the Secretary of the State Election Petition Tribunal, David Mike.

The SDP alleged there was an attack on the Secretary on Monday by hired political thugs in Lokoja.

A statement issued on Tuesday by  J.S. Okutepa SAN, counsel to  SDP stated that at the time the attack occurred, the Secretary was with copies of the election petition filed on 2nd of December, 2023 by the legal team of Alhaji Murtala Yakubu and Social Democratic Party, SDP.

“The said petition was filed on 2/12/2023. The petition is No: EPT/KG/Gov/03/2023. The said petition was duly received and stamped on 2/12/2023 and certified by Mr U. D. Mike On the said date. By the provisions of Section 285(5) of 1999, election petitions are to be filed within 21 days after the date of the declaration of the result of the election”, Okutepa noted.

However, the APC in a swift reaction said that the alleged attack has “exposed SDP to its atrocities against democracy.”

In a statement issued by the Director of Media and Publicity of the APC campaign council, Kingsley Fanwo noted that the alleged attack was nothing but desperate moves by the SDP in Kogi State and ethnic jingoists to paint the state as unsafe, by orchestrating supposed attacks on the Secretary of the Tribunal, Mr Mike David.

According to him, the move was, “to cover up their already exposed plans of filing petition against the November 11 election outside the period allowed under the Electoral Act.”

Fanwo said that the alleged attack was  “concocted lies and warped strategy of the SDP, as the purported attack on the Tribunal Secretary was said to have occurred on the day their dubious, anti-democratic plan was exposed”.

“Why was he not attacked before the midnight of December 3, 2023, when the 21-day window closed? Why is the SDP the first to know about the purported attack? How did they know that he was working on their so-called petition at the time he was allegedly attacked? Why has the SDP turned itself into the advocate for the Secretary? The public cannot be misled. The people know exactly what is happening”, he added.