PDP National Youth Frontier has accused Kogi State Governor’s Director General Media Mr. Kingsley Fanwo of lying to the public and denigrating a former Governor of the State, Alh. Ibrahim Idris. The group advised Fanwo not to throw professional ethics to the winds in his haste to satisfy his boss.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator Mr. Austin Okai, the group said the advice became necessary because of a statement credited to Fanwo where he allegedly claimed that Governor Bello was in the process of using his personal funds to award electrification and road projects in Omala Local Government, the home of former Governor Idris because the former Governor did not do anything for his community while in office. Fanwo was alleged to have made the malicious remarks at a public function in Ayegunle Gbede, Ijumu Local Government of the State.
The PDP youth group says Fanwo’s statement shows that his boss may well be on the course of entrenching in Kogi State, a culture of mediocrity, a situation he claimed the PDP had reversed in its Twelve years of governing the State.
“Former Governor Ibrahim Idris is a firm believer in equity, justice and fairness. In his Nine years of administering the State, he didn’t practice anything less. He rightly saw the whole state as his constituent, without conferring special advantage on his place of birth. Even at that, he did not deny his community of its rightful benefits as now being campaigned.”
For the records the group said, all major roads in Omala including those in Abejukolo and Icheke were either constructed or rehabilitated by the administration led by Alh. Idris Ibrahim. The roads that linked Abejukolo-Ankpa, then Abejukolo-Iyale- Anyigba were all reconstructed by Idris. He also attracted and paid the State counterpart funds for the joint construction of Kuto-Loko-Abejukolo-Bagana bridge linking the Kogi, Benue and the FCT.
“Let the traducers also know that Abejukolo was the second igala town connected to the national grid as far back as 1981 and had witnessed series of upgrades through replacement of wared transformers which was a routine. So it is not out of place for Yahaya Bello to confront decayed infrastructure as others did before him. This is routine and should not be used as vehicle for pulling other leaders down”
“Former governor Idris provided a first class cottage hospital along with upgraded general hospital at icheke and abejukolo to address rural medicare in the area along with other infra structural facilities” The statement noted that “it is too early for any one, no matter the degree of ignorance to want to rewrite this facts and change our records before our very eyes.”
The group urged the Governors spokesman to go back to the drawing board and familiarize himself with the template for the development of kogi state before misinforming the unsuspecting public. It added that it is worrisome enough that the first public function of Governor Bello after the destruction of all roundabouts in Liokja, the State capital was the flag off ceremony of the road from Okene to Agassa, his village, noting former Governor Idris tenure was devoid of such nepotism.
