2023 Election: Why I Ordered the Excavation of Roads Few Hours to the General Election — Kogi Governor

The Kogi State Government, on Thursday, clarified the excavation of some roads in Kogi Central, saying it is a deliberate security measure to cut off traffic on those roads with a view to restricting the use of the roads by criminals who had been breaching the peace of the area with attendant loss of lives and property.

This is coming hours after a politician, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, claimed that roads leading to her hometown were excavated in order to allegedly prevent INEC materials from reaching there.

In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Communications in the State, Kingsley Fanwo, the State Government drew the attention of the public to an explosion that rocked the Okehi Local Government Secretariat Complex a few days ago, as well as the Okene blast of December 29, 2022, during President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the State.

According to him, the security agencies ensured no life was lost as a result of the recent explosion, but the State Government convened an emergency Security Council Meeting to address the security challenges in the area with a view to devising strategies of averting possible future occurrence, especially as the State witnessed a similar explosion on December 29, 2022 at Okene.

“One of the measures arrived at was to restrict the number of routes to the flashpoints to enable security agents properly mount effective surveillance on the other access roads for the safety of the people, especially as they go to the polls on Saturday February 25, 2023. We thank the State Ministry of Works and Urban Development for their proactive efforts on the road,” he stated.

Fanwo asked if the outburst of a Senatorial Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, could be taken to mean that she was benefitting from the seeming insecurity in Kogi Central, noting specifically that as an indigene of Okehi Local Government Area, she had not considered it expedient till now to sympathise with the people over the recent explosion.