The leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi on Sunday appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in Kogi to maintain law and order.

Moses Peter, Kogi SDP chairman, appealed in a statement in Lokoja, deriding what he described as a “deliberate attempt” to overheat the state’s polity.

“We call on Mr. President to promptly prevail on the state government to allow the freewill of the people of Kogi to manifest by exercising their rights to freedom of association,” Mr Peter said.

He said some unidentified persons in security uniform had attacked the convoy of Muritala Yakubu-Ajaka, Kogi SDP candidate in the forthcoming governorship election, while on his way to Lokoja.

Mr Peter accused the state government as the mastermind of the attack against the SDP candidate and called on Nigerians and the president to wade into the precarious security situation in the state.

“SDP is also aware of a plot to arrest our supporters on trumped-up allegations of arms bearing, thuggery, terrorism, and kidnapping, having not been able to pin any criminality on any of the supporters of our great party.

“This time, the SDP will not stand by and watch the governor, whose penchant for politics of violence, manipulation, and intimidation is monumental,” he said.

The Commissioner for Information, Kogi, Kingsley Fanwo, debunked the claims of the SDP chairman, accusing him of cover-up and that it was rather SDP that launched an attack on Mr Bello’s convoy.

Mr Fanwo said the pretence would not help the perpetrators escape the wrath of the law for “launching such reckless and shameless attack on our peace-loving governor on his way back to Lokoja from Abuja on Saturday afternoon.”

“The SDP chairman knows quite well what their political thugs did to our governor. We have to raise the alarm over that so that the world will know about it.

“Residents of Kogi know that Governor Bello means well for the state through his security track records and developmental achievements in the last seven years of his administration.”

(NAN)