Kogi State Government, on Friday, protested the visa ban imposed on some politicians who allegedly rigged the last governorship election in the state by the United States Government.
The US Government had on Monday slammed a visa restriction on some individuals for allegedly rigging the November 2019 governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states as well as in the run-up to the September and October 2020 Edo and Ondo governorship polls.
Although the identities of those affected by the visa ban were not disclosed, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, is speculated to have been affected.
Bello was re-elected in an election that was reported to have been marred by violence and irregularities in November 2019.
In a letter addressed to the Ambassador of the United States of America and signed by the Secretary to the Kogi State Government, Mrs Folashade Arike Ayoade, Governor Bello, argued that the US should have given those affected a fair hearing.
The letter dated September 16 added that though the election in the state was not without challenges, the “regrettable incidents” were only limited to a few polling units.
Ayoade said those who had issues with the election went through all the levels of the court, and the apex court held that the poll “satisfactorily” complied with the Nigerian constitution and the electoral Act.
It stated, “Please note that for the purposes of this protest letter we are only interested in the citations to the extent that they are preferable to Kogi state and her citizens.
“For the most part, we concede that elections in Nigeria are complex affairs which will continue to require improvements for the foreseeable future.
“The 2019 Kogi State gubernatorial election was also not without its challenges. However, it is also crystal clear from critical and composite analyses of the records (official, media, observers, etc) of the November 16, 2020 polls that regrettable incidents were limited to a few polling units, while the overwhelmingly larger portions of the ballot were free, fair and credible.
“Further, and in line with Nigerian law, the few political parties and individuals who alleged widespread electoral malpractices had free rein to contest the outcome in court. They vigorously litigated their claims over a grueling 9-month period, through a 3-step hierarchy of courts, to the inescapable conclusion at the Supreme Court of Nigeria that the said elections satisfactorily complied with the Nigerian constitution and the electoral act.
“Our concern right now is not the prerogative of the United States of America to impose entry restrictions on anyone, for any or no reason at all, which prerogative remains unfettered, but the room for atrocious misinformation which the timing of your Press Statement and the mention of the Kogi elections therein has created in our state.
“For the February and March 2019 General elections, your advisory came out in July 2019, long before the Supreme Court delivered her judgments in the petitions against those elections, including challenges to President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election.
“The presumption is that in spite of your intervention, the Supreme Court still discovered no merit in the petitions and dismissed them accordingly.”
The Kogi SSG said the ban is unacceptable and that the state government protests the US “presumption”.
She said, “We find this unacceptable, and we protest your presumption. The least you could have done, if indeed this is about democracy and human rights as claimed, is create room, no matter how slim, for fair hearing.
“As it is now, partisan speculation as to who is indicted, who is not and for what, has become cudgels, furiously swung in the media space by all comers. Your action has therefore added abundant grist to the rumour mills and electrified the merchants of fake news.
“Let it be noted that we are not challenging your visa bans in any way, whoever they may affect and for how long, but we do register the strongest protest possible as a State to the collateral and unwarranted interference in our political and social processes which it represents.”