Kogi Assets Are Not for Sale! – Group Disagrees Bello

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Upon the creation of Kogi state, the state set out to erect certain infrastructures that will not only serve as viable means of generating internal revenue, but to also attract tourist and place the state amongst its equals.
These infrastructures include the Confluence Beach Hotel Lokoja, Kogi Hotels Lokoja, Kogi State Liaison Office Ikeja-Lagos, Kogi State Liaison Office Kaduna, Lokoja International Market Lokoja, the 12-storey Kogi House in Abuja, the vast commissioners’ quarters in Lokoja, the State House of Assembly quarters in Lokoja and many others.
These infrastructures were built by past administrations. As bad as the previous governments were, they never retired to the suggestion of selling this properties out.
About eight days ago, the Yahaya Bello led government made its intention to sell these properties public. This was equally affirmed to by two or more of his senior advisers and Commissioners.
According to the state government, the sale of these properties are solely to raise funds needed for implementation of 2018 budget.
Expectedly, this development instantly prompted several reactions from well meaning Kogites and even Nigerians, especially as to how right or how wrong it is for the state government to sell heritage properties just to meet an annual budget?
This also led to an immediate online meeting by the prestigious Kogi state online forum ‘Let The Truth Be Told’.
In  the course of the meeting, members of the group including Senator Dino Melaye, Chief Edward Onoja, members of Liberty News and Ufedo Radio all agreed to be fully aware of the sales.
With other members of the house insisting that the commissioners, stakeholders, chairmen and Special Assistants, who are members of the group, should tell the group why the government opted for sales of heritage properties just to finance an annual budget.
With out any concise response from these stakeholders, members of the group began to register their grievances.
Noting that Kogi state is a young state and can not begin to sell state properties at this stage to finance an annual budget. What will it sell to finance other budgets after the present one?, they queried.
Members of the group equally argued that a state that received all the tranches of the bail out fund, Paris Club refund, excess crude fund and receives an allocation of about 4.5 billion every month has no genuine reason to sell state properties to finance an annual budget. Rather, these properties should be upgraded and re-branded to meet the recent market standards in other to generate revenue.
Some of the group members suggested other ways of generating revenue in the state to finance the new budget and options like upgrading the said infrastructures, encouraging foreign investors, promoting agriculture and revamping some of the dilapidated government industries across the state amongst many others.
Other members insisted that the Yahaya Bello government must stop playing politics with the lives and future of Kogi state, agitating strongly that there are other ways to generate money and finance the annual budget if only the administration will engage the several resources available in the state.
The group further disagreed with privatization of these assets, holding that it can only accept the renovation of these infrastructures to meet the very need for which they were executed.
It equally added that the group is not only condemning the sales of Kogi properties because it is wrong, but because the same government will squander the fund raised from the sales the same way it squandered our bailout fund, excess crude fund and all the monthly allocations that has been coming in since its inception.
It concluded the meeting by insisting that on no account should the state government result into the sales of Kogi properties.
And if by chance this is ever done, the group shall encourage a strong protest across the state and across the social media, until the attention of the entire nation is called to this inappropriate action.
The group also called the attention of the general public to the fact that no Kogi property is for sale, thus any individual, group of individuals or body that accept to purchase any of these properties does it at its own risk and is hitherto considered as an enemy of the good people of Kogi state, an enemy of our democracy, our equity and most of all a contributor to the deterioration of our dear state and thus will be treated as such.
– Comrade Joseph Mawedo Nicodemus 
Group Admin, #KogiLetTheTruthBeTold

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