An aspirant in the forthcoming governorship election in Kogi state on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Dr Joseph Ameh has called on President Muahammadu Buhari and the federal government to create a level playing ground for all the political parties that would participating in the election.
The aspirant said this was necessary to avoid the repeat of electoral violence witnessed in the just concluded national and state assembly elections in the state.
Dr Ameh, who made the call Wednesday in Lokoja while speaking on the released governorship election timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for Kogi and Bayelsa state, said the way and manner elections in the state were militarised during the last elections must be addressed to avoid electoral violence in Kogi state.
“We can only have free and fair elections if the federal government creates a level playing ground for all participating parties. We believe that the federal government will not be insensitive to the situation in Kogi state.
“The federal government cannot also belittle itself by allowing gun running and militancy during the governorship election in Kogi state slated for November.
“If you are popular you don’t need to kill to win an election. This is signal to show that those who used gun in the elections were weak. I wonder why the ruling party should be chasing people away and be carrying ballot boxes. It was because they had failed to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
“We expect that the federal government to allow all the political parties to showcase their strength and popularity,” he said adding that if the situation that was witnessed during the state house of assembly in Kogi state repeat itself, it would dent Nigeria’s international image.
