The Coordinator, Peoples Democratic Party National Youth Frontiers (PDPNYF), Comrade Austin Okai said he has been vindicated by the recent statement by the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, confirming that he obtained loan of N10billion naira.
Okai made the statement in a press release which was made available to the journalists.
According to the statement, Okai said members of the Kogi State House of Assembly denied that they approved N10 billion loan when he challenged them on the issue last year.
“When I said the state assembly, under the watchful eyes of Hon. Mathew Kolawole approved Governor Yahaya Bello’s request to secure loan of N10 billion, the State Assembly that has turned itself into an appendage of the Executive debunked it calling me names. They even sent DSS to arrest me and the former state Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilson Inelegu declared me wanted.
“Today, Governor Yahaya Bello has vindicated me. In an interview with State House correspondents in Aso Rock, the governor was quoted as saying he borrowed N10bn and added November/December allocations to clear four months at a stretch before Christmas.
“I demand for unreserved apology from the state government and the lawmakers, who even raised a motion in the hallowed chamber and directed the security agencies arrest and produce me before the House because I informed Kogites that Kolawole and his colleagues approved a N10 billion loan for Bello without following the due process. As a result, the DSS and police under the instructions of Yahaya Bello harassed and intimidated me. If they fail to tender apologies I will have no options that to sue them,” he said.
It will be recalled that Austin Okai, on August 4, 2017 after the resignation of former Speaker Ahmed Umar Imam, alleged that the new speaker, Hon. Mathew Kolawale approved Governor Bello’s request to borrowed N10 billion, which the house then denied.
