Olu Samuel, Lokoja

The Social Democratic Party, SDP has task President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to as a matter of political exigency direct Security agencies, Inec and all stakeholders to ensure that voters are free to come out and participate in the exercise without any form of intimidation.

The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Shehu Sani Gabam, who made the disclosure on Sunday, said , it is incumbent on the President as a social crusader and a political re- engineer to ensure security of lives and property before, during and after the elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo States

“Whatever happens, the buck stops on his desk. He needs to do the needful by directing security agencies to protect voters to come out and vote without any form of intimidation,” the SDP National Chairman said.

A statement issued on Sunday in Lokoja by the SDP campaign council in the state stated that Gabam spoke at a Fundraising Dinner for the SDP candidate, Muri Ajaka in Abuja, over the weekend,where he assured Kogi State that the party’s governorship candidate, was poised to reposition the state, and end “poor governance.”

According to him, “We can assure our teeming supporters that the party will not be left behind.

“We will be at the forefront of the campaign for the conduct of a free and fair poll.

Our democracy needs to be strengthened because there are those who are bent on taking the system down.”

While advocating transparency in the exercise, Gabam said, “The votes must count. The era of rigging should be history but based on ability to mobilise the electorates.

We need a competitive environment. We strongly believe we are the party to beat in Kogi State.

The President who happens to be a victim of the process of the past should create a decent environment in these three off -season elections.”

Chairman of the occasion, Senator Wadada Aliyu, according to the statement said that acceptability and credibility of candidates rather than money inducement would determine the outcome of the Kogi state governorship poll.

Recalling how he, alongside seven other national and Nasarawa state Assembly members scaled the the hurdle in the 2023 general elections, he called on the teeming supporters of the SDP not to give in to any form of intimidation by the ruling All progressives Congress (APC) to cast ballots for their preferred choice on election day.

He added: “We won’t be intimidated, nor will we be bamboozled by anybody. Election is about the people and whenever the people speak it has to be accepted.

“We are participating because we owe Kogi state and Nigeria the responsibility to strengthen and deepen democracy.

We have our experience in Nasarawa state. Elections are not only confined to money. You can have all the money in the world, yet kogites are very much aware of what to do when voting for the candidate of their choice.”