Following an emergency meeting of Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) held on 2nd April, 2024 at Abuja, a group called Prince Abubakar Audu Political Structure, Kogi East has issued a rejoinder against it.
The rejoinder which is signed by the Head of Secretariat Audu/Falake Political Structure (Kogi East) Emmanuel Ekele, Fmr. DG. Protocol, described the communique as heavily hinged on deliberate falsehood and lies to mislead the unsuspecting people.
The rejoinder reads in full as follows:
We wish to clarify certain deliberate and erroneous impressions created by certain groups bent on continuous lies and blackmail pretending to be concerned about the people of Kogi East but are pursuing their personal agenda by exploring the emotions of the people while their stories are heavily hinged on deliberate falsehood and lies to mislead the unsuspecting public.
This deliberate falsehood if allowed to continue is capable of setting the people up against each other in Kogi East and Kogi State in general.
With all sense of modesty and responsibility may we state in clear terms devoid of any ambiguity that all the issues raised by Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) in their COMMUNIQUÉ of Wednesday April 2nd 2024 as it relates to Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu the Honourable Minister of Steel Development were concocted and fabricated to suit their personal purpose as those issues only exist in their vague imagination. They are frivolous and sweeping allegation and deliberate mischief that cannot be substantiated with any proof or evidence.
It is very sad, unfortunate and alien to our culture that a man of the status and age of Alhaji Sule Iyaji who should be a respected elder full of wisdom in the management of issues would allow himself to be brainwashed and badly compromised to the point of throwing caution, decorum and wisdom to the dustbin to dance naked in the market place in a desperate bid to attempt to pull down a promising young man in an obvious evil extension and continuation of the hatred he had for his father (Late Prince Abubakar Audu) whom he (Sule Iyaji) hated with passion and fought while he lived until his demise but could not defeat him. Unfortunately in their conspiracy they failed to establish valid reasons for their hatred except their fabricated lies and assumptions for what they presume he intends to do. Gentlemen of the Press, can mere assumption be enough ground for grievous allegations?
What baffles us most is why will a body who call themselves Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) not call their own son for a meeting if they feel or suspect something could be wrong instead of going to the public domain to attempt to pull him down on ordinary assumptions which only exist in their own imagination if not mischief.
The Honourable minister with his humble disposition will respectfully honour an invitation from such a group and we are very sure clarifications would be made and resolutions reached for the common good of all but they prefer otherwise. Even when the Honourable Minister sent a message to Alhaji Sule Iyaji of his intention to pay him a visit, a man of his status and age would have waited for the visit to raise issues if any and seek clarification but he was in a hurry to undertake his voyage of mischief with his collaborators and sponsors in an attempt to pull a young man that could be his son down for no justifiable reason.
For the purpose of this rejoinder, we will like to address the points of Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) as they raised them in their communiqué:
1. Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) requested for the cancellation of “the purported visit” to the Presidency:- Where sanity rules, I think it is unimaginable to ask someone to cancel a plan based on your own imagination, assumption and fabricated lies. It simply defiles logical reasoning.
2. The Honourable Minister is not dragging the traditional rulers into “murky waters of politics” instead we are appealing to you Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) to stop debasing our traditional institution by bringing the custodians into petty issues just to score some unnecessary points and to blackmail those you assume are opposed to your interest.
3. The Honourable Minister Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu is awake to his responsibilities as a Federal Minister and what he should do for his state (Kogi) and his immediate constituency. As Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS), the ideal thing is to advice where there is a need or gap to be filled and not to manufacture issues where non exist.
4. The Honourable Minister Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu has no business, absolutely no business interfering in the ongoing Kogi State Gubernatorial Election tribunal which is part of the electoral process, it is also not within his purview hence it’s needless to threaten him of any consequences over what you imagine which does not even exist in the first instance. May we also warn Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) to be mindful of criminal intimidation.
5. The Honourable Minister is concerned at this time with his primary task of reviving the Steel Sector for the good of the nation’s economy and has really no time for the imagined accusations. He was only appointed as Director General of the Governorship Election Campaign by his party the APC. The Election is over and he has since returned to his office.
6. We advise Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) to desist from blackmailing the traditional rulers as the extent their lies are being spread against the custodians of our customs and tradition is capable of causing unease in the land. It is obvious that in the desperation of your sponsors you have lost regard for our highly respected traditional institutions as your allegations against our royal fathers is not only a desecration of our traditional institution but it is also sacrilegious.
7. The Honourable Minister Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu has strong faith in our judiciary and wish to advice Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) to desist from speculations and casting aspersion on the judiciary which is very wrong and misleading.
8. We advice Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) to leave the Honourable Minister of Steel Development Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria H.E Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR out of Kogi State Gubernatorial Election Tribunal. In your desperation you lack respect for constituted authority as your blackmail and frivolous allegation knows no bound. May we call on the DSS to invite this group to show justification for blackmailing the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This group of ethnic war lords must be made to understand that freedom of speech is not a call for sweeping and unsubstantiated allegations. This is a case that can go as far as Supreme Court why all the panicking and blackmail from this point. The action of Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) may not be healthy for our judicial system.
9. On the demand that the Honourable Minister Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu must take along Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka if the people of Kogi East must visit the President:- We consider this point laughable because in the first place this is the visit you have condemned and called to be cancelled, why are you interested in it and demanding the inclusion of your sponsor. You can see that you have betrayed yourselves that all the allegations is simply because you assume that your sponsor is not on the delegation for the visit. Nobody stops anyone from visiting the President so why demand that Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka must tag along with Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu to visit the President? Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) should have simply requested the assistance of the Honourable Minister quietly instead of making it a public demand and this is one of the reasons why we see the Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) as being used by a group of people who have hidden motives but lack integrity in themselves therefore they needed a platform to execute their mission.
10. Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) should clearly know that Kogi East is not a one party region and they shouldn’t be undemocratic by boxing everyone into one corner even against their wishes.
11. We advice Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) to stop issuing threats people as this act portrays their disposition to violence. They should allow people to be themselves and should also know that threatening people without justification amount to criminal intimidation which is an offence under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At this juncture may we put it on record that if anything happens to the Honourable minister and or any of his supporters Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) should be held liable.
12. We want to remind Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) that the Honourable Minister, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu is not a lawyer neither a judge nor a party at the election petition tribunal, they should focus on their legal team and let him be. The Honourable Minister is a law abiding citizen and the issues at the election petition tribunal is not before him.
14. Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) and Alhaji Sule Iyaji in their hatred laden communiqué challenged the political leadership of the Honourable minister. If we may ask, if the Honourable minister who has visible presence of community development projects across the State in his private status in addition to his present status is not a political leader of the people of Kogi East, is Alhaji Sule Iyaji the leader and where is he leading the people to?
Gentlemen of the Press, the offence of the Honourable Minister against Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) is that he supported his Party the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last Kogi Governorship election against their interest and wish. That is what is responsible for all the mischief concocted in frivolous allegations and fabricated deliberate assumptions intended to create confusion just to portray him in bad light.
We have decided to respond to all the issues raised in the Communiqué of Kogi East Critical Stakeholders (KECS) on points because we really felt the need to set the record straight and allow people to go about their normal businesses instead of misleading and manipulating them continuously for their selfish reasons.
In similar development it will be interesting to note that this same group earlier in a circulated publication accused a Chieftain of the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) of leading a cross section of Okun people to the Presidency to influence the Election Petition Tribunal and possibly circumvent the process at the tribunal in favour of a particular interest. They have abandoned that line of blackmail and have taken another one. Blackmail may have become a major pre-occupation and character of this group. We appeal to the DSS to invite this group of alarmists for questioning as this festival of blackmail against sensitive institutions of government and linking individuals cannot be allowed to continue unabated in a lawful society.
