Ordinarily it is not in our character to react to anybody that sees it as their past time to write anything against His Excellency Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State. This is because the Governor and those working with him would rather channel their energy towards the development of the state to justify the mandate trust on the Governor by Kogites.
However at times it becomes expedient to straighten some of the issues raised and put them in their proper perspective as silence might be seen as endorsing what is far from the truth.
It is because of this that I find it necessary to react to Mr Leo Sobechi’s bias and disrespectful piece on the person of His Excellency Governor Yahaya Bello.
My dear Leo, I feel so sad for you and the journalism profession when I read your article dated 24th April, 2016. The article which was tagged Yahaya Bello: ‘Jejune politics of a head boy’ made me to weep for you, because to me you have had a hard fall from a high pedestal of journalism which you may have climbed through the dint of hard work.
What you wrote in the Sunday Guardian was so confusing, funny and un-coordinated as facts were misrepresented and figures conjure like a man struggling to place his hand on disappearing object.
The hallmark and ethics of journalism profession was thrown to the dustin, little wonder our respected veteran and former Governor Olusegun Osoba recently said our most cherished profession is on the brink of extinction.
I wouldn’t have been bothered if I have not read your articles in the past, which were so educating, informing and above all beneficial to those trying to learn the act of politics and even writing in the recent past.
Mr. Leo, what went wrong? I have been trying to un-ravel the mystery behind your descending so low by loosing touch with reality, but then I remembered that you must follow the directive of your pay masters, even if it means throwing all the ethics of the profession into the dustin.
Though you tried to play a smart one, your sponsors will still thank you for a job well done and know that you can be hired to assassinate characters but unfortunately journalism is not about lie telling.
I felt for you because of your reputation as well as the integrity of the Guardian Newspaper which was known in the old good days as the flagship of journalism.
I know your pay master may be pretending that the ill-fated article has made his day, but deep down in him he knows that the write up did not deliver the expected blow due to the inaccuracies, muddled up facts and lack of direction in trying to present lies as the truth.
As a good journalist you used to be, you would have done more research on the write up before coming up with this piece which only shows your price.
What else would be more embarrassing than not even knowing that the State Election Petitions Tribunal is not sitting in Lokoja as you claimed. For your information, the Election Petition Tribunal was relocated to Abuja on the 1st February,2016.
You cleverly made several attempt to say that the governor was the brain behind the crisis in the State House of Assembly when you ignorantly said the All Progressive Congress, APC has 10 while the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP has 15 members and the governor not feeling comfortably with their strength, cunningly orchestrated a plot that led to the removal of Honourable Momoh Jimoh Lawal by five lawmakers.
Your facts were totally wrong, because if you had bordered to find out, you would have known that Kogi State House of Assembly as it were before the impeachment was with 20 members. Five out of twenty-five were sacked by a law court from the fall out of the election petitions.
His Excellency, has said in every public and private functions that it is his desire to see the assembly reunited as one body and has made several efforts to bring them together as one through series of reconciliatory efforts.
The so called argument of political inbalancing that resulted to the removal of Momoh Jimoh Lawal was totally false and unfounded.
The Ex-Speaker should be able to the tell the world how he was removed. I will not hold brief for the lawmakers but he was alleged to be incompetent and lack necessary qualities to lead his colleagues.
The Speaker pro temp ore, Honourable Friday Sani at a press briefing recently said the entire members have lost total confidence in the leadership of the house and therefore a change in leadership has become necessary.
– Ademu Idakwo is Senior Special Assistant to Kogi State Governor on Print Media
