The National chairman of the Action Alliance (AA) Barrister Kenneth Udeze has confirmed the abduction of three witnesses that were meant to testify for the party at the the National Judicial Institute in Abuja, where the Kogi State Governorship Petition Tribunal sits.
Political thugs were alleged to have abducted three witnesses from the premises of the NJI within the Kukwaba District of the Federal Capital City. They were to testify in the petition filed by Olayinka Braimoh, the AA governorship candidate in the November 2023 election in Kogi state on February 26, 2024
Udeze alleged that the trio of Idris Khadijat, Safiyat Muhammed and Abdulmalik Muhammed were still missing more than two weeks after.
He pointed accusing fingers in the direction of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Said Udeze when officials of the Coalition of the United Political Parties (CUPP) led by its secretary Chief Peter Ameh visited on Tuesday, “It is a very sad and terrible situation. I want to confirm officially that three of Action Alliance witnesses for that Election Petition Tribunal were abducted and as a matter of fact they are still missing till today.
“This is the kind of country we find ourselves. A situation where a governorship candidate sees some loopholes to prove that the election that was conducted in Kogi was not free and fair, and in order not to behave like thugs, he decided to explore the legal means in order to correct the anomaly in the election, only for intimidation to be coming from left, right, and center from the APC government that won the election in Kogi State.
“I am using this opportunity to really condemn in its entirety the threats and intimidation against the candidate of the action Alliance in Kogi State. I am confirming it, it is exactly what happened”
Countering the AA position, the Kogi State APC chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello, refuted the allegation that any of its supporters abducted the witnesses of the Action Alliance political Party or even had any altercation with any witness.
He described the allegation as false, coming from mischief-makers bent on tarnishing the image of the party and whip up sentiments with the ulterior motive of prejudicing the mind of the tribunal and the public against the APC.
The party’s statement said the Chairman was in court on the said 26th February 2024 adding that he did not witness any such incident but was only informed of a fracas which occurred between persons who were outside the tribunal complex.
The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, had relocated the Kogi Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal from Lokoja to Abuja.
The relocation was not unconnected with security breaches against members of staff of the tribunal who have been attacked on several occasions in Loloja.