Img: Mohammed Dele Belgore
In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, the APC said, “Mr Belgore’s reckless, coated with obvious lies and irresponsible press statement is a failed attempt to mislead the public on the unfortunate incident”.
“The attention of All Progressives Congress (APC), Kwara State chapter, has been drawn to the unsuccessful bid of Mr Dele Belgore to twist facts and put the responsibility of the violent attacks on innocent APC members and the disruption of PVCs distribution exercise, an unfortunate incident solely instigated and executed by Mr Belgore through his political thugs, at his polling booth on Friday at our doorstep.
“Horribly, not only that APC members were attacked by Mr Belgore’s political thugs, the thugs were so berserk that they didn’t spare a member of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) who was hired by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the exercise. The youth corper was attacked and had to be rushed to the hospital. The incident is condemnable and Mr Belgore should be bold enough to face the consequences of his actions.
“The APC is amazed that Mr Belgore can publicly lie to Kwarans while owning up to truth in the private. We have it on good authority that he has made a statement to confirm what and who led to the violence.
“Why is Mr Belgore’s polling unit the only polling unit in the entire state that has a reported incident of violence? It boiled down to facts that he has lost the little following he ever had in his polling unit.
This is year 2014 not 2011, Mr Belgore and his team should not expect to spill the blood of innocent Kwarans without proportionate consequences.
“The hurriedly-put up press statement of Mr Belgore is reckless.
The unfortunate incident has bestowed many issues on Mr Belgore to contend with for posterity sake. They include: why was the polling unit peaceful until his arrival? Why did he order his thugs to harass and use arms on our party members? If the APC indeed instigated the unrest as Mr Belgore claimed, how did the APC instigate the crises? Why did he think the APC will attack APC members? Why were his few supporters and PDP members not attacked?
“With the unfortunate incident and the attendant actions of Mr Belgore to live in denial and contemptuously lie to the good people of Kwara State, Mr Belgore has lost all that is left of his credibility and integrity. A similar personality can not be trusted with any public office, not even a councillorship position or supervisor in the local council.
“Nevertheless, we hope the Police Command is not hoodwinked by the antics of Mr Belgore and his team, Mr Belgore was the sole instigator and executor of the unrest. A credible investigation should start from why did the polling booth suddenly turn theatre of violence after the arrival of Mr Belgore and his team.”, the statement read.