The unending political feud between the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello and estranged friend, Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial district has snowballed into a ridiculous dimension. Muhammad Bashir in Lokoja, in this piece, ex-rays the attendant gains and losses to the senatorial district and the state in general.
In politics, it is often said that there is no permanent friend, but permanent interest. This refrain has always come to the fore among politicians who believe that politics is not all about seeking votes from the electorate, but also fighting either for the people’s interest or for personal interest.
In many instances, politicians vie for elective offices either by hook or crook not only to control the electorate but also to amass for themselves, money, connection, and affluence, throwing away the interest of the vulnerable voters and the entire state into the dustbin; not minding their political future after office.
Suffice is to say that the political buffoonery between Governor Yahaya Bello and Senator Dino Melaye is never exceptional. As even a toddler, if given the opportunity to speak, will insist that the duo are unnecessarily flexing muscles to gain future electoral favour above the other.
Their daily exchange of tantrums has become a cause for concern, a scenario said to be traceable to the fact that both of them were generally said to have gotten to their current positions by providence. Governor Bello, emerged second to the late Prince Abubakar Audu during the All Progressives Congress (APC)-governorship party primary two years ago, and was said to have been imposed on the people of the state, no thanks to the APC leadership and the judiciary gave legal teeth to the imposition.
Governor Bello, either by accident or by divine, is currently administering the affairs of Kogi. But he has never acquainted himself with his constituents to seek votes, unlike the late Prince Abubakar Audu and his running mate, Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, who toured the entire state dishing out electoral promises to the electorate and eventually won and Bello became governor after the dramatic demise of Prince Abubakar Audu.
The unending battle
Political pundits have argued that Governor Bello would have been busy by implementing his government’s programmes, and not flexing muscles with Senator Melaye. That the governor shouldn’t have thrown caution into the air, but listen to the voice of wisdom and advices from stakeholders in the state.
The first political attack was the move to recall Senator Melaye by purported members of his constituency. Thousands of signatures were collated and sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission which made arrangements for verification of the signatures, the recall process later became a legal battle.
Before this, was also an allegation that Melaye did not graduate from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The moves formed the background for Melaye’s popular (?) song ‘Aje kun iya nio je- (his suffer will be extra-ordinary). Today, it seems to have met a brick wall.
Though the hands of Esau were almost visible in the plot, state governor through his media team had repeatedly denied involvement in the recall process. But the senator has continued to finger the governor as the sponsor for his planned removal from the red chambers of the National Assembly.
Another scene of the continuous drama was the alleged attack on Senator Melaye at his Ayetoro Gbedde residence in Ijumu Local government of the state, by gunmen sometime sometime ago. A scenario that eventually landed the governor’s most trusted aide, Hon. Taofiq Isah who is the Chief Administrator of Ijumu Local Government Area and State Chairman of ALGON, and others, into police detention. The matter is still lingering at the State High Court for legal determination.
Similarly, the senator narrowly escaped death this year at Felele in Lokoja during a sympathy rally in honor of the state civil servants who are currently going through challenges due to non- payment of salaries, running into several month. Melaye, while addressing the crowd at the front of the State Polytechnic, in Lokoja, was whisked into his bullet proofed G-Wagon Mercedes-Benz, when some dare-devil gunmen invaded the rally ground, shooting sporadically at the vehicle and a 30-seater coaster bus belonging to the embattled senator. Two persons alleged to be among the gunmen were killed during the crossfire.
The most recent drama was the Kabba Day, when some alleged sponsored people pelted the senator with sachet water, stones and other dangerous weapons. It was learnt that the senator was hurriedly invited to the podium by the organisers to deliver his speech, so he could depart the venue and allow the governor who was waiting at one of the nearby hotels in Kabba and refused to come to the venue of the event, until Senator Melaye left.
Sunday Telegraph also learnt that the absence of the governor had earlier created delay in the programme, but however, Senator Melaye, who was already sitting, was begged by the organisers to deliver his speech and leave. The Senator, in his unusual manner, obliged and delivered his speech with the donation of three million naira. However, Senator Melaye did not go without his usual hate song by invoking Holy Ghost fire on his enemies and against any one causing problem for the state.
It was also gathered that when security report on the attack got to the governor who was said to have been waiting at Golden Grand Royal hotel, Kabba, immediately took off and left Kabba to Lokoja, to avoid being linked to the attack.
However, Sunday Telegraph learnt that the thugs were imported from the Central Senatorial. District, led by a current member of the state House of Assembly representing a constituency in the governor’s district.
It was also learnt that the organisers of the event deliberately refused to invite the embattled senator, owing to the fact that the state governor who they considered as the senator’s political foe, was to attend the event.
While collaborating this, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Mathew Kolawole, told journalists that Senator Melaye was never invited to the occasion to avoid unnecessary fracas. It was further learnt that invitation was, however, sneaked to the senator to attend the event, which he eventually did and apparently stole the show.
A chieftain of the APC, who pleaded anonymity, blamed the organisers to have conceived the idea of not inviting the senator who is representing them. “How on earth will the organisers conceive the idea of not inviting Senator Melaye in the first place? This is a senator that always participated in Kabba Day, just because he is having a running battle with the governor who is not from Okun land, is not enough to deny their son. If they are afraid of fracas, it is the governor who should not be invited and not Senator Melaye,” he added.
However, the embattled senator, through Special Assistant, Mr. Gideon Ayodele, has accused the state government to have sponsored the thugs to attack him.
Ayodele said: “Two out of the Ebira boys that attacked him in Kabba that Saturday were sent by Kogi State Government but were arrested by the police but later granted bail following the intervention of the state apparatus.”
But the state governor, in his swift reaction, said he took a proactive step to avert an impending chaos that would have resulted in the loss of lives and property at the annual celebration of Kabba Day. The governor who also spoke though his Chief Press Secretary, Mrs. Petra Akinti Onyegbule, noted that his inability to make a scheduled appearance at the Kabba Day was to prevent the possible disruption of the peace at the event.
“The alleged attack on Dino Melaye by some aggrieved Kogi West youths would have been worsened if the governor was present at the event, hence, as the father of the state, the governor, decided to stay off to avert further violence.
“As the chief security officer of the state, whose job is to ensure the protection and safety of lives and property of the citizens, I am committed to making sure that the onerous task of ensuring the safety of the entire citizens was never compromised,” she quoted the governor as saying.
According to her, the governor has said it countless times that no political misunderstanding was worth the life of a single citizen in the state. “If my appearance would hurt anyone, I would rather stay away and let everyone be at peace. Kogi is for all of us, and together we shall build the state of our dream”.
Why the squabble
Political leaders in Kogi have attributed the current squabble in the state to allegation that Melaye questioned not only the emergence of Bello as governor but his capacity to be leading the party in the state.
Interestingly, a prominent politician in the state, Chief Tom Adaba, had advised the governor not to trade words with Melaye, who he viewed as someone already in the gutter to avoid being smeered in gutter fight. Also, Hon. James Faleke had advised the governor to see himself as the father of all Kogians and concentrate on the delivery of infrastructures and not heaping all his energy fighting an individual.
However, Governor Bello may have eventually turned deaf ears to these valuable admonitions, and continued the fight against his political adversaries including Senator Dino.
The fight is not without consequence as the re-election of Senator Melaye in 2019 is currently threatened. His recent advocacy in favour of the state civil servants who are already declared as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and moves to donate tones of rice to them according political analysts, was a smart way to win the love of the electorate who are mostly civil servants in his constituency.
Observers believe that the current ego-trip between both top governments officials is not only uncalled for given the fact that they belong to the same party, but it is also a great distraction to the development of the state. “The earlier they settle their scores the better, otherwise the state will continue to suffer,” said a member of the State House of Assembly.
Credit: New Telegraph
