By Amuda Dan Sulaiman FAB.
The family of late Prince Abubakar Audu, has described the purported award given to the family by Governor Yahaya Bello in commemoration of the silver jubilee anniversary of the state as self serving and diversionary.
In a statement he personally signed, Alhaji Muhammed Audu and made available to newsmen in Lokoja, advised the governor to pay the civil servants and pensioners who are groaning as a result of hardships inflicted on them by his administration.
He said rather than concentrating on the challenges of governance by attending to the needs of the masses, particularly civil servants, Bello has resorted to seeking cheap popularity, by misleading the people that he has the endorsement of the family of the late icon and former governor, Prince Abubakar Audu.
According to Alhaji Mohammed, they are poised to retrieve the stolen mandate which Bello took from them, adding that rather than seeking the endorsement of late Prince Audu’s family, the governor should allow the Supreme Court to do its job.
He disclosed that Aisha Emeje, who purportedly received the award on behalf of the family had since left his father before his demise, and even contested election against him, saying it is laughable that such a woman who had even given birth to a child for another man after leaving his father would be receiving award on the family’s behalf.
Mohammed therefore maintained that the late Prince Audu’s family have nothing to do with such an award, which is aimed at “desperately” getting the nod of the family, rather providing succour and uplift the living condition of the suffering masses of the state.
He stressed that his late father left behind 10 children, including brothers and sisters, saying none among them have anything to do with governor Bello, whom he stressed is out to mislead the world that he has reconciled with the late Audu’s family.
He maintained that only him, as the eldest son has the mandate to speak or act on behalf of the family, saying that they have outrightly rejected the award because it didn’t represent what their late father stood for.
Mohammed explained that the late APC leader worked assiduously for the people, which made them to revere him, even in death, adding that governor Bello, by his actions so far represents the opposite, which has made the present administration to be unpopular with the people.
He therefore enjoined the governor to use the remaining period of his administration to work for the people, rather than chasing shadows, seeking endorsement from the family that can never be available, insisting that the people of the state deserve a better deal.
Muhammed who lambasted the governor for inflicting sufferings on the people of Kogi State through the non-payment of salaries and his ‘inhuman policies,’ said if this administration was taken up by his late father, the people would have not go through such hardships, because of his plan for the state.
