The People Democratic Party, PDP delegation to Kogi governorship primary Wednesday feared dead when gunmen invaded the venue and shot sporadically in the early hours of Wednesday while some party members were injured.
The state Publicity Secretary of the party, Bode Ogunmola, in an interview with newsmen in Lokoja on Wednesday, identified the delegate as Ibrahim Abdullahi from Kogi Local Government Area.
He said that the delegate who died in the stampede that followed the invasion of the Lokoja Confluence Stadium, venue of the primary election by gunmen, had been buried.
Ogunmola said that the Electoral Committee led by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa would come out with a decision on the development after a meeting.
The gunmen invaded the venue some minutes after 2a.m when ballots in seven out of the 10 boxes had been sorted out. Thirteen aspirants participated in the primary.
However, Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP William Aya, said that police had no record of death from the incident.
But Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi said that the alleged invasion of the venue of the PDP primary was unfortunate.
Bello said that the details of the shooting were still sketchy, but noted that the gunfire incident might not be unconnected with the usual ‘do-or-die’ politics of opposition whose desperation to win at all cost had led to such violence and crisis in the state.
The governor, therefore, directed the security agencies to get to the root of the matter immediately, stressing that it posed a grave danger to the November 16 governorship election in the state.
He promised to update the public as soon as he had been fully briefed by the law enforcement agencies.
The governor commiserated with the injured and the families of the alleged killing of a party member in the inciThe governor assured the people of the state that the incident would “not be swept under the carpet” no matter the status of those involved.
He also reaffirmed his commitment to institutionalising lasting peace in all parts of the state, stressing that peace in the state remained non-negotiable.
