Alleged Blackmail Against Military: We Stand By Our Petition to Buhari, Says CUPP 

The Coalition of United Political Parties has said it stands firmly by its letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to investigate certain politicians in Kogi State over an alleged attempt to cause mayhem in a bid to disrupt the forthcoming elections. 

The CUPP, in a statement jointly signed by 19 of its leaders, said,  arising from a crucial meeting of Steering Committee members in Abuja, on Thursday, members passed a resolution to distance the Coalition from a statement said to have been signed by one of its spokespersons against collective decision. 

The leaders of the Coalition frowned on what they described as “wicked blackmail” of Ikenga Ugochinyere by a senatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in Kogi State, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, which they said, “pressured Ikenga to make the release precipitately.” 

They insisted that security agencies should investigate allegations that militants were imported to join Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s rally last year, among others, adding that their intervention was a patriotic one. 

“The Coalition stands by everything written in that petition, including a demand for the investigation of the allegation making the rounds in Kogi State of importing Niger Delta Militants to join Mrs Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s rally last year in Kogi State,” the CUPP leaders said. 

They pointed out that the CUPP had its hierarchy of leadership and should not be confused as the sole ownership of a single individual, saying “a letter signed by bonafide leaders and members of the Coalition cannot in anyway be referred to as fake.”