Expectedly, since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the guidelines for the November 2019 governorship election in Kogi State, public attention has shifted to the confluence state as a lot of absurdities are being thrown up.
After the usual celebration that follows election victory which the Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, had at the inception of his administration, it is not certain if he has had any modicum of peace thereafter.
Of course, Bello was up against history as no non-Igala has occupied the governorship position since the creation of the state in 1991.
It is on record that the Igala-dominated Kogi East Senatorial District is reputed to account for more than half of the state’s population.
So, that Bello, an Ebira from Kogi Central is governor, was termed an accident, occasioned by Abubakar Audu’s death.
It would be recalled that the period leading to his emergence as governor appeared to have been enmeshed in a constitutional logjam, as the APC’s governorship candidate in the 2015 election, Abubakar Audu, who looked good to winning the election died before the governorship election was concluded. This misfortune led to Bello being picked by the APC to replace him.
Hon James Faleke who was Audu’s running mate objected to the party’s decision and approached the election tribunal in the state, asking it to declare him governor-elect. The party persuaded Faleke to retain his running mate position, but he turned it down. Thus Bello made an unusual history as he was sworn in without a deputy. It was the first time in Nigeria’s political history that an elected governor would be inaugurated without a deputy.
There is no gain-saying that Kogi people had always dreamt of having a governor who will launch the state onto national and international reckoning; a unifier who will collapse the walls of division; a patriotic leader who places service above elections; but going by the reports from the state, most stakeholders and political observers have strongly argued that governance has taken a leave from Kogi since Bello reputed as the youngest governor took over the saddle of leadership.
Bello’s administration seems to be going down as the most unpopular in the state’s history.
It had come under public scorn and severe media criticism as an administration with uncommon disdain for civil servants, one that loved to owe workers salaries with impunity and without any tangible performance in infrastructural development, despite the huge resources at its disposal.
The general perception that seems to hold sway within and beyond the state is that Governor Bello has enthroned a reign of notoriety that has brought shame to the much-touted inclusion of youths in governance.
One writer said that Kogi State hitherto proudly referred to as a confluence state “has become a confluence of absurdities.”
There is a claim by the state chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) that Bello owed the state workers between eight to 38 months salary arrears.
But Bello said he only owes the state workers four months salaries. Kingsley Fanwo, the spokesman of the governor, who debunked the claim during an encounter with journalists, insisted it was done out of mischief.
“As far as government is concerned, we have paid 38 months salaries starting from September 2015. We have been in office for just 39 months. But we still owe four months’ salaries. The entire claim is born out of mischief,” Fanwo said.
Arguably, Bello is top on the list of governors who are swimming in sea of unanimous disgust and disdain. He is believed to have driven the quality of governance many rungs down the ladder.
Perhaps, this is the only meaningful convergence of opinion. On this one thing, there is an overwhelming agreement; Bello must be shown the exit door in the November poll.
There are reports claiming that Bello is jittery that he may not be the choice of the party as he is planning to join the Accord Party (AP). But the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa-Onilu, has dismissed the report as “balderdash” in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.
The Kogi State government under Bello has published paid advertorials showcasing not less than 124 achievements in all sectors. But for most Kogi natives and political observers, such exercise is mere political propaganda as there is nothing much on ground to show for the claim.
Bello has also said that his planned defection was a rumuor; that he was not leaving the APC.
Though Bello’s APC won the majority of seats in the state house of the assembly election, the PDP had a good showing in the national assembly elections, indicating that the impending governorship election in the state is open for a tough duel. Increasing pointers show that stakeholders in Kogi APC do not favour Bello flying the party’s gubernatorial flag. They are convinced that with his dismal performance, presenting him as the party’s governorship candidate is akin to entering a no-contest and giving the position away to the opposing party, the PDP.
There seems to be fire on the mountain in Kogi State as different stakeholders strategize to battle for the soul of the state in the November governorship election.
They want to ensure Bello is booted out of office while Bello says “they are day-dreaming”.
The outcome perhaps is in the womb of time.
Bello was born on June 18, 1975, in Okene, Kwara State. He attended LGEA Primary School, Agassa in Okene LGA from 1984. He later went to Agassa Community Secondary School, Anyava, Agassa-Okene and obtained his JSSCE and SSCE certificates from Government Secondary School, Suleja-Niger State in 1994.
He studied at Kaduna State Polytechnic Zaria in 1995 and obtained an accounting degree from Ahmadu Bello University ABU Zaria in 1999. He further enrolled for a Masters programme in Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria where he obtained Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in 2002. He became a chartered fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria in 2004.
Credits: The Sun
