Olabode Adeyemi, a Special Adviser to the Governor of Kogi State, attributes the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 11 gubernatorial election to the party’s widespread popularity and extensive representation across various levels of government in the state. In an interview with AIT, Adeyemi highlighted the APC’s dominance, noting the party’s control of 23 out of 25 assembly seats, 289 councillorship seats across all wards, 21 out of 21 chairmanship seats, and 7 out of 9 federal House of Representatives seats leading into the gubernatorial election.
Adeyemi rejected the notion of rigging and asserted that the victory in the gubernatorial election was a result of the APC’s significant popularity in Kogi State. He emphasized the party’s stronghold in the state by providing numerical evidence of its success at the assembly, local government, and federal levels.
In his interview, Adeyemi stressed the APC’s historical success, referencing the party’s 2015 performance when it had 14 governors out of 36. He used this context to illustrate that the APC’s considerable presence in the state was a reasonable factor contributing to its triumph in the recent election.
Adeyemi employed the Kogi West senatorial district as a template for analysis, citing the APC candidate’s victory in all seven local government areas. He questioned the notion of rigging, suggesting that the party’s popularity was the driving force behind the results, even in regions where there were multiple gubernatorial candidates.
According to him; “As at 2015 when Buhari was contesting election, APC already had 14 governors out of 36 governors. That is a reasonable number. In this case, APC had 23 out of 25 assembly members, 289 councilors out of 289 wards, 21 chairmen of the 21 local government, and 7 house of reps members out of 9 federal constituencies. Let’s use Kogi West as a template to analyze what happened in Kogi State. Kogi West had three gubernatorial candidates and none of them did well in their LGA. APC candidate won the seven local government areas in Kogi West. Are you trying to say the Kogi West people rigged against their sons for APC? No, it is the popularity of the party in Kogi West senatorial district”.