Kogi women group asks residents to vote APC candidates in state assembly poll

Women professionals from Kogi Central senatorial district has asked residents of the state to vote candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 11 state assembly poll.

During a road walk on Sunday, the women expressed their gratitude to residents for turning out en masse to vote for the APC candidates in the just-concluded presidential and national assembly elections.

The women, who also thanked Yahaya Bello, governor of the state, for the peaceful conduct of the election, said the road walk became necessary in order to demonstrate that women in the central district and in the state, generally, were solidly in support of the governor for giving them the voice they had been clamouring for.

Led by notable women professionals in the district, the Kogi Central women took off from Okene local government secretariat, walked through the newly built Reference Hospital, down to Total, and back to the secretariat, chanting victory songs as they marched through the streets.

Rekiyat Onaivo, Kogi state coordinator, APC Professional Women Council, charged the women to replicate their last outing by coming out en masse to vote for APC candidates in the state house of assembly election on Saturday.

She said the large turnout during the last election was an indication that women in Kogi central appreciated Yahaya Bello’s result-oriented women inclusive governance.

Onaivo Sanni, who is also the executive director, Kogi Enterprise Development Agency (KEDA), enjoined women to support the current administration to enable it deliver more dividends of democracy to the people of the state, assuring that Abubakar Sadiku Ohere, the senator-elect, would give good representation at the national assembly.

Anne Olurinde, the chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, who also joined the walk, commended the state government for making the state’s resources work for the people, noting that the infrastructure projects undertaken by Bello’s administration were unprecedented in the history of the state.

She said the residents had enjoyed peace since the governor assumed office and that, though journalists must be neutral, they also owed the state and the entire nation the duty of responsible journalism devoid of unfounded panic reporting.

“We monitored the elections, and considering what Kogi state elections have been like for decades, we can conveniently say it was very peaceful. The elections were free and fair,” Olurinde said.

“We refuse to be willing tools in the hands of politicians who are always painting one-sided picture of happenings in the state with sensational social media posts for selfish interests.

“As the chairman of the National Association of Women Journalists, Kogi state chapter, I want to say we are very happy with the administration of Yahaya Bello. He is undoubtedly the only governor in Nigeria that has given women the strongest voice in governance. There are so many awards in this regard to attest to this.

“His ADC is a woman; his SSG is a woman; HOS is a woman, and all the vice chairmen of local governments are women, among other top positions. I understand there are over 30 very senior female appointees currently. Don’t forget that he also appointed the first female DG of a presidential campaign organisation. I can go on and on. So, I can understand why women in Kogi Central have trooped out like this today to demonstrate their solidarity with him.”