Sen. Smart Adeyemi, a senator from Kogi West, stated that anomalies in the Electoral Act 2022 had been revealed by the recent party primaries.
Senator Adeyemi disclosed this while briefing newsmen at the National Assembly complex in Abuja on how he lost the return ticket to the senate in the just ended primaries in Kogi West Senatorial district.
He claimed that the Electoral Act needed immediate revision even before the general elections in 2023 because of how many anomalies there were in it.
Despite Yahaya Bello’s resistance to his return to the Senate, he stated that he has no regrets about endorsing his state governor for president.
Recall that on May 28, 2022, in Kabba, Kogi, Adeyemi lost to Sunday Karimi for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the Kogi West Senatorial District.
The congressman said he participated in the primary against the recommendation of the state’s APC chairman, Abdullahi Bello, whom, he said, requested him to step aside and work wholeheartedly for the presidential campaign of Governor Bello.
Sunday Karimi received 288 votes at the end of the ballot, followed by Muyiwa Aina with 73 and Smart Adeyemi with 43.
He claimed that a closed meeting that the state party chairman called on the governor’s request to force him to drop out of the campaign ended in a standoff because he was adamant about continuing.
“I would like to state that I have never regretted my unwavering support and sticking up for the Kogi State Government. I don’t regret backing Yahaya Adoza Bello, the governor of my state; doing so is still the correct thing to do, and we should always strive to do what is right, Adeyemi stated.
He said that there were many anomalies in the primary, stating that delegates from Kogi West were switched out 24 hours prior to the event, which took place in a very antagonistic setting.
For record-keeping purposes, Adeyemi, the Senate Committee on Aviation’s chairman, claimed to have petitioned the APC national organization against the “unfair” primary.
“The accusation that I have stepped on toes by my position on contemporary national issues constitutes a major part of my many offences, and I have absolutely no regrets on the matter.
He went on, “If the tides turn, I will remain in this same spot, speak my mind and the common man’s mind on the streets, and project only those values which I believe in.”
In a separate development, Senator Adeyemi refuted the image that has been making the rounds on social media and disparages Governor Bello.
He claimed that the image that was making waves on social media was created by some political insiders with the intention of putting him at odds with the governor.
Known for telling it like it is, Senator Adeyemi said he was not scared to take responsibility for his actions if he was the one.
Even though Governor Bello was cheated out of the senatorial primary by state apparatus directed by the governor’s goons, he emphasized that he still has a great deal of respect for the governor.
