Now that the Kogi State governorship election is around the corner, there is no better time to evaluate the Governor Idris Wada-led administration than now. Shola Oyeyipo writes
Perhaps, one of the most vilified and castigated governor in Nigeria today is Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State. From the inception of his administration in 2012, soon after winning the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket and eventually winning the governorship election, the administration has contended with allegations of various shades from the opposition and even members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Worse still, while some governments would have relied on counter claims and self-aggrandizements as ways of boosting their public profile, the Kogi State Government, which had its problems to contend with, has remained relatively quiet about its plights, chief among which was paucity of funds.
Kogi ranks amongst the states getting some of the lowest allocations from the federation account. Its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is also low and it has an over-bloated work force which sucks a considerable chunk of funds accruable to the state. At the same time, federal allocation dwindled in the face of dropping price of crude oil in the international market and the massive oil theft in the last few years.
Latching onto government’s lackadaisical attitude to mixing politicking with governance and lackluster posturing of his media handlers that would have projected his modest achievements, opposition has easily discredited Wada as having underperformed ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.
The election slated for November this year has therefore thrown up issues of public interest among the people of the state and other watchers of the Kogi State politics. One of such is the threat posed by the APC to the government, the allegations levied against the governor and the assurances among people in the governor’s camp that with the state being in the grip of the PDP with solid structures at the grassroots and the fact that the Wada administration has done well, the election is the government’s to lose.
One of the media aides to Wada, Mr. Ralph Agbana argued that despite the victory recorded by the APC in this year’s presidential election, it is no criteria to measure the governor’s chances of winning the forthcoming election.
He attributed the media attacks against the governor as “deliberate effort to call a dog a bad name just to hang it,” by those having their eyes on the governor’s seat and their agents, lamenting that, “It is sad that we live in a society where people live in some fool’s paradise thinking that they can misinform the public and sell to them a bad product using propaganda.”
THISDAY gathered that even with the rather unfavourable projection of the administration, the government and other members of the ruling party are not really losing sleep over the coming election. They pride the government as people-oriented and their party as more credible than the opposition APC and parading crops of grassroots politicians that would ensure its victory.
“Governor Wada has no doubt made the difference in governance. As governor, he introduced a scientific governance approach tailored towards creating the environment for unlocking the natural and human potential of the state.
“The governor’s finesse and prudent use of resources are clear departure from the norm where money is shared to thugs, rather, the governor invests in positive youth development and this is one of the reasons behind the dislike, and the smear campaign to run him down and bring about a government that would dispense state funds into unproductive venture,” Agbana said.
Also disagreeing with argument that castigates the governor as a non-performer, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Deputy Governor (Yomi Awoniyi), Mr. Mike Abu, noted that even with the numerous challenges Governor Wada met on assumption of office, there are records of good performance attributable to the Wada government.
“The governor’s desire for quality in the execution of projects led to the putting in place of a vigorous procurement process that has prevented contract award to unqualified contractors and for political patronage.
“Another reason he is at loggerheads with some persons – realising the nature of revenue accruing to the state, Governor Wada made the payment of salaries a priority. It is important to state that Kogi State is among the states not indebted to its workers,” he added.
According to Abu, averagely, the state receives between N3.5billion to N3.7billion as allocation since it took over power in 2012, whereas the wage bill of the state is put at N3.2billion, which leaves the government with a little above N200million to run the state after salaries have been paid.
“Teachers in the state are about 33,000 and the wage bill is N1.3bn. Similarly, the total staff strength of the entire Kogi State council workers stands at 26,542 as at March end. The expected monthly wage bill needed to offset the workers’ salaries by government is put at about N1.6bn.”
He said as part of its developmental stride, the Wada administration has since committed remaining funds to the completion of inherited projects, specifically the completed payment for the Greater Lokoja Water Project, the Confluence Stadium, the phase two of the state secretariat, Confluence Beach Hotels and several road projects inherited from the former governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris.
“For record, the Wada administration has so far completed 58 road projects across the state and others are still on going,” he noted. He said contenders for the PDP ticket, most prominent among them, Alhaji Jibrin Isah (Echocho), stands no chance against the governor, whom he said has the needed support of those aware of his commitment to bringing about a systemic change in the state.
“The race to occupy the Lugard House, the seat of government for another four years from January 2016 in Kogi State, leaves Governor Wada as the man to beat. Though he is yet to indicate his interest to run as stipulated by the constitution, the incumbent governor has the ability and what it takes to bring about the desired result in a governorship election. It is on record that he defeated Prince Abubakar Audu, who today is the best candidate of the APC in the 2011 governorship election,” Abu underscored.
