The Kogi State government in reaction said the elders that issued the statement are mainly from the clan of those that contested against Governor Idris Wada and lost the election saying many of them have been on self imposed exile outside the state and are completely cut off from developmental efforts at home.
The state government in a statement by the special adviser to the governor on media and strategy, Mr. Jacob Edi, said raising bonds to finance capital projects is an acceptable way of meeting up challenges by governments all over the world saying many states in Nigeria have done that saying It amounts to pulling the wool on the face of the unsuspecting public for the Elders Forum to criminalize the initiative.
The Kogi State government said the elders “in its haste to hang the Wada administration, reached for its infamous bag of fiction accusing the state government of not paying salaries as and when due,” stating however that since assuming office last year, the Wada administration has never failed to pay salaries to the state work force.
It added, “The group made specific reference to the flood donations of last year and SURE-P funds, every penny that accrued to the state on account of the unfortunate flood disaster last year, have been accounted for and even published on the pages of newspapers.
As the height of its many interventions to make life better for the flood victims, a post flood housing estate to house about 300 families have been completed in Lokoja, the State capital.”
The state government said the reference to an imminent Supreme Court judgment on Kogi governorship election of 2011, since the matter is before the highest court in the land, it has no way of knowing or preempting it’s judgment and challenged the elders to come out with more facts on how they reached their conclusions and provide evidences of bribes which they alleged have been given to judicial officials, PDP officials and some politicians in Abuja.
“We urge members of the public to ignore the vituperations and clearly the emotional convulsions of this senile persons. Readers should properly guided. Kogi State is working,” the state government stated.
