Politics all over the world is a game of number in which the citizens elect their leaders. To attract the support and acceptance of the people to occupy political positions, requires goodwill on the part of candidates who are aspiring to occupy elected positions in any democratic society.
Building goodwill is one of the areas that Governor Yahaya Bello has succeeded in the course of governance in Kogi State in the last three and a half years. It is common knowledge to most Nigerians the event that led to the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in Kogi State which had been in power in the state for over 12 years.
If the administration of PDP in Kogi State over this period was beneficial to the people of Kogi State, they would not have voted them out of power. The recent online media publications which was manufactured by opposition political actors in the state alleging that all the 21 local government councils’ of the state are in Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) custody for giving the sum of N630million council funds to Governor Yahaya Bello is laughable and childish for the reasons below as there is no truth in the online media publications.
The NFIU, before granting local government autonomy has their policies in place to monitor local government purse. Any discernable person knows the process that any government agency passes through before accessing a kobo from the government account which involves the office of the accountant, auditor, and cashier. None of these three offices mentioned, has come out to lay any complaint of such money being taken away from the local government account yet the so-called opposition who grounded the state in their wasted 12 years in office and other desperate aspirants who want to hijack power in the state at all cost are bent on discrediting the laudable performance of Governor Yahaya Bello which he has made through the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs under the able leadership of Engr. Abubakar Ohere who has repositioned the ministry through his style of leadership.
Instead of manufacturing fake news against the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs under Engr. Ohere’s leadership, the man should be appreciated by all the good people of Kogi State for the excellent job he is doing to reposition local government administration in the state.
For anyone to think that the DLGs can single handedly withdraw N30million in cash and hand over same sum to the governor without any due process is laughable and senseless. This is because Governor Yahaya Bello and Engr. Ohere who had been fighting corruption, which has hitherto destroyed the local government administration cannot stoop so low to coerce and ask the directors of local government to hand over N30million each to him.
Governor Yahaya Bello will never touch the money of Kogi State for personal gains unlike the former governors and their children who during their time were busy buying properties in Abuja at the expense of the state.
The same looters are now the ones sponsoring people online to spoil the governor’s effort to rescue the local government system in Kogi State.
Just few days ago, the governor met with a country director of World Bank in Abuja to seek for their intervention in his quest to develop Kogi State. It is therefore laughable that the governor who goes out of his comfort zone to seek for funds in order to reduce the suffering of his people is accused of corruption by the same people who had grounded the state and the local government administration in the past twelve years. It makes no sense at all.
What a pity, for the senseless opposition who never sees any good thing in Governor Yahaya Bello’s government yet it is the same governor that is clearing the mess they left behind in the state.
The successes recorded in the Ministry of Local Government under Engr. Abubakar Ohere with the full support of Governor Yahaya Bello should be highly commended by good people of Kogi State who are concerned about the backwardness of the state caused by the PDP’s twelve years in power in the state.
Abubakar Ohere’s openness, maturity, transparency and accountability has no doubt brought peace, development and love for Governor Yahaya Bello as people can now feel the impact of the ministry in all the 21 local government councils in the state. Engr. Abubakar Ohere is best described as a gift to the ministry, and kudos goes to the governor for identifying this great leader of our time to manage this sensitive ministry and bring sanity to it.
The local government administration in Kogi State is one of the most transparent under Governor Yahaya Bello. The governor and Ohere should not be discouraged or distracted in their quest to serve the good people of Kogi State. More of this fake online social media publications will surely come from detractors and desperate politicians who have nothing to offer to the people of Kogi state, but to enrich their families, friends and cronies which had been the norm under the past PDP administrations. And as the state governorship election draws closer, the governor should know that he has the support of majority of the state because of his laudable achievements in the last three and a half years in office.
On the part of Engr. Abubakar Ohere, history will remember him in Kogi State for the great reforms in our local government administration and for service to humanity. We also urge him to take the online media blackmailing as a source of strength and encouragement to continue in his excellent performance and support Governor Yahaya Bello’s re-election come November, 2019, God willing.
The staffers of the Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, especially the Account Department should take this online media publications as a source of courage and strength to be more dedicated in their service to the state. God willing, victory is sure for our dear governor come November, 2019.
– A. I. Bala is a public affairs commentator.
