Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the Senator-Elect of Kogi Central, has accused Governor Yahaya Bello of plotting to kill her during the senatorial election held in March 2023.
Akpoti-Uduaghan made the allegation on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed concerns over Bello’s recent statement acknowledging her victory as the duly elected candidate for Kogi Central.
She criticized the Governor’s remarks, pointing out the inconsistency of endangering lives and labeling it as the “beauty of democracy.”
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Furthermore, she alleged that the Governor intentionally disrupted essential routes within the state to hinder the smooth progress of the election.
Despite facing threats and challenges, the Senator said, she demonstrated resilience to avoid portraying vulnerability for women involved in or aspiring to engage in political leadership.
She said:
“I heard guns; I had his henchmen shoot at my vehicle; I have video evidence of that.
“It was the immediate past; they were adorned in APC shirts and one of them was Amoka; he was actually the returning officer for Okehi local government. He led the group of ten men to shoot at me; I have the video captured in that.
“He said this is the beauty of politics; this is not the beauty of politics. You don’t endanger people, you don’t set out to kill people, you don’t destroy properties, and you don’t frustrate the electoral process just because you want your candidate to win and call it ‘the beauty of democracy.’
“Apart from that, the governor actually thwarts roads. The governor, a day before the election, cut five – he dug gullies, cutting five roads. That was just to prevent the election from taking place, probably endangering my life.
“It was a day to the election but thank God we had the payloaders and I went all night; we had to cover the gullies so that the election could take place.
“A lot went on that we couldn’t even put before the media because I didn’t want to seem as if I was every day, crying for help. I needed to show strength; I didn’t want to discourage other women like me from entering politics and thinking, ‘Oh, it’s too violent, it’s too volatile.’
“I had to show strength; that was why I did not tell every part of this story; it was so much more than the world knows.”
