By Thompson Yamput
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Shaibu Abubakar-Audu, will not resign his position as All Progressives Party’s (APC) campaign Director-General for the Nov. 11 governorship election in Kogi.
The state’s chapter of the party made the declaration on Monday in Lokoja.
Media and Publicity Director of the Governorship Campaign Council, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, told newsmen that calls for Abubakar-Audu’s resignation were being orchestrated by “some hired goons’’ for “divisive reasons’’.
The callers claimed that Abubakar-Audu would be soiling his image if he remained as the campaign council’s director-general following the dimension the campaigns had taken.
“The Director-General of the Campaign Council, Mr Shaibu Abubakar-Audu is committed to executing a campaign that will usher in Alhaji Usman Ododo, the APC candidate’s era of consolidation and continuity.
“No amount of ethnic parroting can distract the politically sagacious minister from the historic task ahead.
“His late father, Prince Abubakar Audu (former governor of Kogi), was committed to a united, prosperous and peaceful Kogi.
“The director-general is only following his father’s footsteps.
“It is obvious that the rising profile of the minister and his unassailable inroads into the hearts of the people of Kogi has become the nightmare of befuddled politicians,’’ Fanwo said.
He added that the APC’s candidate had remained uncompromisingly committed to issue-based campaign, devoid of violence, ethnocentric narratives or divisive tendencies.
“Under the leadership of the campaign chairman and that of Gov. Yahaya Bello, APC’s campaign has been peaceful.
“It is uniting and a true reflection of the enduring legacies that have kept our party at the apex of political performance in our dear state,’’ he stressed.
Fanwo said also that APC’s issue-based campaign entailed its promises, assurances and social contract with the peace-loving people of Kogi through the media to the people.
He said Ododo only needed Kogi people to be convinced by the legacies of the system he served in and his promises of consolidation and continuity to vote for him on Nov 11.
He enjoined security agencies to investigate the latest fracas in Lokoja and ensure that culprits were prosecuted to serve as deterrent to other trouble makers in Kogi. (NAN)
