ACN Supporters Protest Kogi Gov Polls Result, Block Highway

ACN_08-01-10•It’s Act Of Lawlessness, Says PDP

FOR more than two hours yesterday, supporters of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN protested what they called the massive rigging of the December 3,2011 governorship election in Kogi State by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

During the protest, they  blocked  a section of the Abuja-Lokoja Highway thereby creating pandemonium and gridlock on the road.

The protesters who were mostly women, were carrying broom and anti – PDP and anti – INEC placards and  chanted unprintable allegations against the PDP and INEC.

The group leader, Hajia Zainab Isah said the women were aggrieved over the outcome of the December 3, 2001 gubernatorial election, which she said was  not reflective of the wishes and aspirations of the people.

“We did not vote for Wada; we voted for Prince Abubakar Audu and we can go to all length to beg President Goodluck Jonathan and Professor Attahiru Jega that they should return our mandate to us because they stole our votes,” Isah said.

Some of the placards bore inscriptions such as: ‘We need Justice,’ ‘INEC was not free from subterranean influence during December 3 election,’ ‘December 3 election: Collaboration between INEC, PDP,’ ‘Kogi State gubernatorial election was full of malpractice,’ ‘ACN says no to December 3 election.’

But reacting to the incident , spokesman of the Wada/Awoniyi Campaign Organisation, Chief Tunde Olusunle, described the protest staged on such an important road as an act of “lawlessness,” regrettable and akin to the “area boy, agbero arm twisting tactics the ACN was known for totally alien to our political culture in Kogi.”

He added: “The December 3 election was keenly contested and decisively won by the PDP by a margin of over 62 per cent.

When The Guardian visited the scene of the protest, motorists coming from the  Northern  and southern parts of the country  were seen waiting helplessly as the protesters carried on without any interference from security agents except for  men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) who attempted to ensure orderliness among the agitated travellers.

The State’s Police Public Relations Office, Ajayi Okasanmi confirmed the protest but noted that it was peaceful.

He said the police spoke with the protesters after   which  they dispatched.

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