When Will President Buhari Visit Kogi to Commission Projects, Austin Okai Asks Gov Yahaya Bello

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Social critic, Usman Okai Austin has challenged Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state to invite President Muhammed Buhari, who he has severally describe as his ‘father’, to come to the state for a day visit.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, Okai said it is unfortunate that Bello, who is also among the closest Governors to the President, can not invite his ‘father’ for an official visit.

“This is simply because, as tradition demands, the President must commission projects and the evidence on ground suggest there is none to be found,” he said.

Okai, who describe the five years of the Yahaya Bello-led administration in Kogi state as a monumental waste and a betrayal of good governance, challenged Gov Yahaya Bello to invite the President to the state and prove him wrong.

“Yahaya Bello is always at the forefront of all the activities of the ruling party, but yet, the state has nothing to show as the benefit of our Governor closeness to Aso rock.”

Lamenting on the poor condition of workers in the state, the activist called on the governor to accept the reality that Kogi state is crawling in terms of good governance.

“It is shameful and disgraceful that nothing works in Kogi state. What we are good at celebrating as achievements is either the governor’s birthday, naming ceremony and celebrity visit – all at the expense of state finance. This is the extremity of sycophancy and the very antipode of good governance.

“Most of the cherished state assets are either not in a state of good repair or vandalised to the detriment of its citizens; but yet, we claim to have the youngest governor in Nigeria. If youths are the future, then, Gov Yahaya Bello represents the past.

“The civil service has been so bastardised to the level that civil servants – with enormous wealth of experience garnered over the years through the sponsorship of state resources are cocooned to the dustbin of maladministration under Governor Yahaya Bello.’

”What is today obtainable in Kogi state is, maladministration undiluted, pretentious political loyalty by the impoverished appointees of government and supposedly men of good reasoning all in a bid to achieve personal gains.

“Pensioners who have served the state diligently and meritoriously are being ostracized as their monthly pension is being feasted on by the state government.

“Local government administration is the hub of all corrupt tendencies as elected representatives at all levels can only bark but not bite – with council allocations the only sure bet for state government expenditure,” he lamented.

He challenged the governor to open the books of state government to public scrutiny, through auditing of the accounts of the state and local governments by external auditors and making the report open for public interrogation.

“The last audited report of state books was done in 2015. This is an aberration. The auditor general of the state and local government have turned emergency billionaires and celebrities with pilfered state funds to the detriment of all facets of the state government,” he said.


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