Despite several evidence of widespread violence dotting Kogi’s elections, Governor Yahaya Bello is claiming that the state’s chequered history of electoral violence is a media creation.

The last off-season elections, particularly in Kogi, which returned Governor Yahaya Bello for his second and final term in 2019, were marred by widespread violence and electoral fraud, according to media reports and election observers.

But Mr Bello told journalists on Saturday, after casting his vote at his polling unit (PU) 011, Agassa, Okene LGA, that “the issue of electoral violence in Kogi state is a media creation of those that are not on ground in Kogi state. 

The Kogi governor added, “Go into record and compare my own regime and that of the previous one. The regime of Yahaya bello on the conduct of elections. I have been the freest and most credible and violent free elections (sic).

“So the issue of violence in Kogi state is a media creation and a figment of imagination of all those who do not want good things to happen in Kogi state. But to the glory of God we can now see how it is very peaceful and in an harmonious relationship.”

Meanwhile, SDP gubernatorial candidate Murtala Ajaka, in the run-up to the November 11 poll, accused Mr Bello of attempting to assassinate him, claiming that, in the early hours of Tuesday, gunmen opened fire on the home where he was supposed to spend the night in Ayangba in Dekina LGA. 

“They thought I was there; their target was to get me assassinated,” Mr Ajaka said on social media, estimating that the attack occurred between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. The Gazette was unable to independently verify the claim, and a police spokesman delayed comments. 

The SDP standard-bearer said 23 people, including three police officers, had died as a result of the attack on Tuesday and begged President Bola Tinubu to replace the heads of security agencies like the State Security Service, navy, and police, saying they were all compromised.

“Both the head of the navy, DSS and the police have been compromised. They are recruiting thugs moving around with them. They want to eliminate me. I have survived 30 attacks. They want to kill me before the election,” Mr Ajaka said at a presser in Abuja on Wednesday.

Like the SDP candidate, PDP governorship candidate Dino Melaye also claimed to be a survivor of four assassination attempts, asserting the APC to be violent in intimidating opponents.

“I have survived four assassination attempts; I have been attacked several times. It is not new, as it is in the DNA of the APC to be violent,” the PDP candidate said on October 13.

Peoples Gazette reports that Kogi is notorious for its propensity for electoral violence based on historical data and the current security situation, according to a report, ‘Nigeria’s 2023 State Elections: Mirroring Hotspot States’ by Nextier, a local democracy think-tank.

“On July 24, 2023, arsonists burnt down the Social Democratic Party campaign office in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi state. On July 10, 2023, it was reported that suspected thugs invaded the SDP campaign office and destroyed billboards, showing the picture of President Bola Tinubu alongside the SDP governorship candidate,” said the report.

It added, “On June 3, 2023, the Kogi State SDP governorship candidate, Muritala Ajaka, escaped assassination by whiskers when gunmen attacked his convoy.

“A similar attack was reported on Governor Yahaya Bello’s convoy, allegedly by the supporters of the SDP, where some aides of the governor were said to have been injured. The security situation in Kogi has attained mind-boggling proportions.”