The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Governor Yahaya Bello

  • Adeyemi’s choice as APC campaign DG strategic, says Tiamiyu

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Fancy Jimoh Tiamiyu, has said that the appointment of Senator Smart Adeyemi, as the Director-General of the Kogi State APC Governorship Campaign Council, was a strategic.

    Tiamiyu described Adeyemi as a quintessential politician who has the experience and capacity to deliver.

    He said: “After the emergence of His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, as the candidate of our great party, APC, and the nomination of the Chief of Staff to the governor, Edward Onoja, as his running mate, the appointment of Senator Smart Adeyemi, as the Director- General of the APC campaign council is another wise choice made to guarantee our party’s victory at the polls.

    We are satisfied with the decision of the party to have Senator Adeyemi as our campaign DG. We will give him all the needed support as he takes charge of the affairs and activities of the campaign council and gloriously leads the party to victory.”

    He added: “Senator Adeyemi’s experience as a veteran in the journalism profession, rising to hold the position of President, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) twice and a two-term senator, would certainly come handy in this very important assignment given to him by our party at this point in time.

    “That is why we are very much comfortable with his appointment as the campaign DG of the Bello-Onoja project, because we know he has got the vast experience, ability, connections and contacts to do a great job in rallying Kogi people to vote for the APC.”

  • Why APC will retain Kogi, by Bello

    Kogi State All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Alhaji Abdullahi Bello spoke with JAMES AZANIA in Lokoja, the state capital, on issues that will shape the November 16 poll.

    The PDP has said that APC cannot win the November 16 poll. What is your take on this?

    That’s a huge joke coming from the PDP in Kogi State.

    In fact there’s no aspirant in the opposition party, the PDP, that can defeat Governor Yahaya Bello and the APC in the election.

    Not even Wada that emerged as their questionable candidate in the November gubernatorial election in Kogi State. PDP as a party is in disarray in Kogi State. This is because everyone of their key elements are fighting for themselves, and their immediate family, and not the overall progressive interest of the vast majority of our citizens in Kogi State.

    They have merely turned Kogi State into family socio-economic stroke political chess game, where father and son are fighting to force their personal choice of candidate on us, and elder brother stroke the junior one from same family were frantically trying to outdo each other. And or in-law versus in-law kind of political brawl.

    The PDP in Kogi State is a symbol of acute failure overtime, and thus their present quest to establish family political dynasty in a diverse social setting like ours is bound ‘to’ fall like pack of cards.

    This is the foundation of their failure now and in the years to come.

    This scramble for the apple pie in the PDP by their so called well to do, has fragmented them to the extent that our impending victory over them in the coming election will be devastating.

    PDP in Kogi State will be defeated in such a convenient and humiliating manner, that they will not be able to challenge our victory at the election tribunal.

    Aspirants, including Admiral Usman Jibril (retd.) and Alhaji Mohammed Audu, were perceived to have been unjustifiably screened out from primary. Are you not mindful of a possible backlash?

    There’s none among these mentioned individuals who were disqualified, that has come forward to present to the party any concrete evidence that they were unjustly disqualified from partaking in our party primary election in which Bello emerged victorious.

    APC, just like all other political parties have laid down rules and procedures for obtaining and filling their nomination forms.

    Some candidates presented unconvincing bio-data. Can you blame Bello or the party for such inadequacies from them?

    Some of these people were never bonafide member of our party, but simply rushed to purchase the APC governorship nomination forms, hoping to run on an outdated distasteful platform; that only candidates from a particular part of our state can stand and win gubernatorial election in Kogi State.

    To some whom we toiled in the 2015 election for their late father, they were of the opinion that we will line up behind them again. This is where they got it wrong.

    Prince Abubakar Audu was a leader with distinction and we followed him. His political shoes are just too wide for any of his children and his brother who we never know with our leader while he was alive, to wear at this time.

    We don’t believe in political family. dynasty, either in PDP and or APC.

    The election will settle some of these issues by the grace of Almighty Allah.

    Coming to the question of backlash, let me allay any concerns in the above regard, that most of these people were not actively involved in the last general election process in Kogi State, where our party recorded tremendous success under the leadership of Bello and Chief Edward Onoja. They thought by their non-participation in that election, APC will not do well.

    And, their absence was great mark for us, for if they had been involved, they would have claimed credit of our political victory.

    I’m not implying that they are irrelevant, but if they wish to be of political substance in our state, it is in their best interest to join a moving train which is heading for triumphant victory.

    The PDP came up with a candidate from the Kogi East, to exploit the numerical strength of the Igala people. How is the APC going to counter this?

    The November 16 election in Kogi State is going to represent the followings: One, incumbent with experience against the unknown and the questionable.

    Two, Bello and APC, symbolise unity, as against the PDP and its candidate that believes that one family is destined to govern forever in Kogi State.

    Three, GYB is a symbol of youthful empowerment across Kogi State, as against the PDP and its candidate which held on to placing the younger generation in our state at the background in perpetuity.

    Today, in Kogi State, so many young people has broken the ceilings by virtue of Bello’s government policy of giving the youths preference in terms of appointments and recognition.

    Four, under Bello’s administration, the erstwhile cries of ethnic marginalisation is gone.

    While GYB believes in competence and quality of mind, the opposition PDP is clinging to ethnic considerations in most of her choices. And, this easily explains why they found no other competent person from the other two senatorial districts, to run on the ticket of their party, except an Igala man Wada.

    Fifthly, GYB and APC represent the oneness of Kogi State as one big family, while the PDP and its candidate is clothed with outdated ethnocentric ideologies.

    PDP will be easily defeated in the coming election, for picking Wada, a junior brother of the former governor of the state, who failed in all ramifications when he held sway for good four years.

    We will not allow the son of former Governor Ibrahim Idris to force his candidate on us, just the manner he did with Capt. Idris Wada in 2011/2012.

    Kogi is for all Kogi citizens, not for in-laws. Other brilliant and tested capable young men and women abound in all the three senatorial districts in Kogi; who are competent enough to govern our state. This cannot be an exclusive preserve of just one or two families.

    Bello’s victory in the coming election will be total.

    Bello is the preferred beautiful bride in the coming election; for the fact that serious political leaders from the Kogi West senatorial district are quite aware that his successful second term in office is the nearest to them having a taste of Lugard House, while his huge followers from Kogi East are working hard in order to see to it that political power is back to them in four years time. So, it’s work and reward time as we all strategise for the coming election.

    What has the APC done for Kogi that will speak for it at the poll?

    So many roads have been completed in Kogi East and many are ongoing, reaching advanced stage.

    In Kogi Central, huge road construction have been accomplished too.

    We just saw the governor last week on site tour of the gigantic Kogi rice mill at Ejigba in Kogi West, which is being set up in tandem with President Muhammadu Buhari’s drive towards local food production, as part of the Next-Level agenda, and this is coupled with many other ongoing road construction in his political senatorial district.

    This young governor did not concentrate projects in his enclave, as against what previous governors before him did during their time.

    Bello has commenced a positive generational change in terms of human development.

    Today, his achievements in this regard is unparalleled. Bello’s decisive intervention in curbing our terrible security situation when he assumed duty is quite commendable, and his committed efforts has made Kogi State a none fertile ground for criminals.

    We should not forget that the primary purpose of government is the protection of lives and property. And, GYB has obtained distinction in this area.

    The governor personally led security forces to chase out known criminals and their properties destroyed in line with our state anti-thuggery and kidnapping law across the three senatorial districts.

    There’s religious harmony in Kogi State, while the citizens local culture are being treated with commendable respect.

    The Kogi State traditional institution was positively uplifted by this New Direction government of Bello.

    Traditional rulers who were abandoned by previous governors have been promoted across the state without sentiments.

    Don’t forget that this governor is the only one with courage to wipe out the scourge of ghosts workers from our state workforce.

    Those who benefit from this, and who are in the minority, in and or outside our state, will continue to shout on top of their tiny purposeless voice against the government of GYB.

    The governor has paid all genuine state workers and pensioners up-to-date.

    If any Kogi State worker is claiming otherwise, he or she is either being economical with the truth, or may probably have been weeded off from the payroll for certain infractions which have been communicated to them.

    The third category are the mischief makers.

    We will defeat them.

    Kogi State has attained political relevance with balance at the national scene, due to the effective leadership qualities of Bello.

    The coming election is not whether are we going to win, the huge margin is what we’re working on at present.

    We’re comfortably ahead of the PDP and all other mushroom political parties in kogi state.

    Allegations by the deputy governor, Simon Achuba, that the governor aimed to eliminate him, and sundry others, it is believed will tell on the party’s fortune at the poll. What is your take on this?

    It’s unfortunate that Mr. Simon Achuba has driven himself into this political cul-de-sac. My advice for him is to resign and leave the scene quickly.

    May be he thought he was still a member of the Kogi State House of Assembly, an institution he left many years ago.

    I said this, because from all his public comments, only a member of the state legislature can face his governor in the manner he did. Any member of the executive arm who in my opinion decides to go the way he did should have resigned and presented his case to the public. His various media outbursts contravened our nation’s Capital, which he swore to uphold.

    You can’t be beneficiary of a government that you are equally working hard to undermine at the same time. To remain an opposition within his own government is nothing short of ingratitude to the man who brought him to his current political status.

    I particularly thank Almighty Allah that He gave a better substitute in the person of Chief Edward Onoja.

    This is another young man in our state, whose outstanding output has amazed me personally.

    With him as the deputy gubernatorial candidate to Governor Yahaya Bello in the coming election in kogi State, we shall attain victory without stress.

    All indices in kogi State as we head towards the election are in favour of Governor Yahaya Bello and Deputy Governor to-be, Chief Edward Onoja by the grace of God.

  • Kogi APC faction’s secretary debunks Yahaya Bello’s endorsement

    The factional Secretary of Kogi State All Progressives Congress (APC), Salam Tom Adejoh, has debunked alleged endorsement of Governor Yahaya Bello’s bid for re-election ahead of the state’s governorship poll billed to hold on November 16.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja yesterday, Adejoh said  Bello’s poor performance should not be rewarded with a second term.

    The APC Secretary emphasised that the party’s executive committee members were not in any position to endorse any aspirants, stressing that the party’s governorship ticket is open to every qualified party member.

    “We did not endorse anyone and we are not planning to. The party’s ticket is open to everyone in the party,” added.

    According to him, the last meeting of the state executive committee, which held on Saturday, did not discuss Bello’s endorsement.

    Adejoh dismissed media reports credited to a faction of the state executive, led by the chairman, purportedly endorsing the governor for a second term.

    Read Also: Kogi APC exco splits over Yahaya Bello’s re-election bid

    Narrating the exco’s last meeting with the governor, Adejoh said: “Our discussion ended at the need for peace so that the party can move forward. He (governor) said he needed a sincere peace and we agreed on terms. There was nothing like endorsement.

    “The terms we agreed on were that our allowances and other packages that we are entitled to would be given to us and we all agreed on these terms.

    “The governor requested for the case in court to be withdrawn. We told him there are some processes to be followed.”

    On the reported endorsement of the governor by traditional rulers in Kogi State at the Presidential Villa in Abuja last week, the party secretary said the governorship election is not a traditional affair.

    According to him, the traditional rulers are only entitled to vote at the election.

    Adejoh added that they are not in a position to decide who will be the APC candidate because they are not delegates.

    Other party chieftains that joined Adejoh at the briefing included the State Organising Secretary, Alhaji Isah Abubakar; Zonal Youth Leader Noah Akwu; APC Bassa Local Government Chairman Mallam Isiaka Ibrahim among others.

  • Kogi poll: Can Bello get second term?

    Can Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello get the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket and win the November 16 poll? George Oyedepo examines the second term hurdles before the governor.

    KOGI State Governor Yahaya Bello always describe himself as the godson of President Muhammadu Buhari. Since he assumed office, Bello made his subservient ways to please the president very overt. He is not ashamed to be at the beck-and-call of the president, even when his duties are not needed. Bello somehow manages to worm his way through, positioning himself as the true son of the president. His frequent visits to Aso Villa was once seen as a political move to seek the hand of the president’s daughter in marriage. As a Muslim who is already married, his intentions are by no means illegal. If anything, it will only be seen as a strategy by the governor to stamp his foot in the corridors of power. So far, that has not been the case. Yet, Bello’s visits didn’t dwindle. Instead, he has taken the onus upon himself to declare himself the one who has the president’s ears. After all, it was due to his intervention that the president considered bidding for a re-election. His victory in the last election is a celebrated feat for Bello who again blows his trumpet that he indeed delivered Kogi state to the president. A blatant lie that his detractors, even those who work with him make mockery of behind his back. But Bello is full of himself that he is only focused on those who dared to challenge him publicly, particularly from the state party. More recently, he bragged that the National Leader of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu respects him because he is known as the son of the president.

    On more than one occasion, the president has demonstrated his viral slogan that he belongs to no one in his four-year tenure. His stance in supporting the people’s interest over the interest of friends and allies are evident in the recent sagas in Ogun, Imo and Kano states.

    For a president whose best credential is not only that he does not like corruption but clearly detests it as shown in the body language and confusion of Gandollar or Gandujegate issue. On national TV, the president was reluctant to raise Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s hand even when he knew he will secure votes for him. His refusal to support Ganduje’s after the bribery allegations cost him an almost defeat in the state.

    Likewise, in Ogun, he refused to assist his former best friend from the Southwest to pervert the will of the people.  When the outgoing governor Ibikunle Amosun hosted at the rally and tried to pressure the president to support his own candidate, the people’s president raised the hand of the APC candidate, but told the people to vote who they think will be best for them.  President Buhari refused to bow to the vested interests of the party, or the vested interest of Governor Amosun.

    His former best and only political ally in South-east, the very Hausa-speaking Governor Rochas Okorocha ran to Abuja many times looking for presidential salvation against the party.  The people’s president did not interfere.

    Similarly in Oyo State, the president did not spare his longtime close friend and political ally since the days of his former party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Abdul-Raheem Adebayo Shittu. Shittu was also a former governorship aspirant of the party in Oyo before he was appointed Minister of Communication in Nigeria.  From the first day he gave the governor trouble, but because of his closeness to president, president showed his usual character of being steadfast to his friends and kept him as minister. Soon allegation of financial impropriety and lack of paying his assistants their salaries which is what this president has worked against in the states were made. President Buhari still stood with his friend after he confessed that he did not carry out his National Youth Service Corps obligation. Unlike the former Minister of Finance of Kemi Adeosun who was asked to vacate her office, Shittu was not sacked because the president does not bow to vested interest.

    When the primaries for Oyo state came, Shittu was denied access.  Those who were present at the screening said he didn’t qualify. The president didn’t come to his aid; he allowed the will and interest of the people.  Now the APC has lost Oyo state because the president said the interest of the people should prevail.

    Thus, it is quite alarming that the president refused to call to order Bello’s flagrant disregard of the will of the people. How come the president is not querying Bello on his inability to pay workers’ salaries for years or the squalor he has pushed most Kogites into due to the lack of development in the state? How come the president is not concerned about the untold hardship Bello has inflicted on the people? Is it that in Kogi the President chose politics over people? Is it that the cries and sickness from non-payment of salaries don’t get to the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja?

    As the primary draw near, Bello in his bloated ego is walking down the streets of Kogi, drumming support from those who are too scared to call him a fraud. He is raising his chest up and breathing confidently that he will return to power at the November 2 scheduled governorship elections. Needless to say the tactics he will employ to achieve his goal.

    The Buhari we know will not allow Bello to even contest primaries in Kogi.  He will not be permitted. President Buhari said “he does not know how governors go to sleep without paying salaries”, but Bello his ‘son’ is sleeping well under President Buhari’s protection without paying salaries. Is it because in Kogi, for the president, it is politics, not people? Or vested Yahaya Bello interest not people interest?  Has the President given up the burden of the father of the nation in Kogi to make a choice to be father of Yahaya Bello? Is it that everywhere he is for all and belongs to no one, but in Kogi, he is for Bello and belongs to Bello?

    Why is he supporting Bello when all are crying and begging him to save and rescue them from Bello?

    The president has a good opportunity to show example by advising Bello not to run. He should tell him the truth. If he is truly a son, he will not disgrace and spoil his father’s name and so he should not contest.  He should not contest, not because there is fear, but because there is fear presidency is behind him. There is concern that his violent antecedents will come during elections and his do or die attitude will be on ground.  He should not contest not because he can win because he can never win. If only ten people vote, Bello will still lose elections. He should not contest so that there will be no loss of life in Kogi.

    Openly condemning what Bello has done and plans, denying him the ticket is the only message from the presidency and APC that can be loud in Kogi. It’s the only message that cannot be misinterpreted by Bello’s militia.  It is the only message that can assuage the pain of many. It is the only message that can assuage the pain of the sick, and workers who have not been paid, some of them for years; the pain of children who have not been to school because teachers have not been paid and parents have not been paid so no school fees for private school; to assuage the pains and sorrow across Kogi from East to Central to West; all over Kogi.  The president should prove that like in Katsina, the interest of the people in Kogi is paramount and above the vested interest of Bello.

     

     

  • Kogi judiciary protests alleged plot to sack Chief Judge

    THE Kogi State judiciary has accused Governor Yahaya Bello of plotting to remove the Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajanah, from office.

    A statement issued yesterday by Senior Information Officer, Kogi State Judiciary Saqeeb Saeed alleged that the governor planned to remove Ajanah by using the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

    But surprisingly later yesterday, the House of Assembly recommended the removal of Justice Ajanah for alleged gross misconduct.

    This followed the “adoption of the report and recommendations of the House Committee on Public Account”, which indicted the state High Court and Hajj Commission of financial breaches.

    The statement by Saeed reads: “Events in the last few days have made it necessary for the Kogi State Judiciary to issue this press statement. The Kogi State Judiciary is aware of clandestine moves by His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, to use the Speaker of the House of Assembly to illegally remove the Chief Judge, Justice Nasiru Ajanah, from office over some trumped up allegations.

    “This dangerous and ill-advised move is coming from the executive in spite of the fact that the matter is now before the National Judicial Council (NJC), and there is a subsisting court order restraining the governor from doing so.

    “The governor is advised not to do anything that will plunge the state into an unnecessary constitutional crisis. Rather, he should obey the rule of law and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which he swore to uphold.

    “Meanwhile, workers of the judiciary should remain calm, as the rule of law shall prevail at the end.”

    The staff of the judiciary had on Monday marched through some major streets of the capital, Lokoja, protesting the alleged plan to sack Ajanah.

    The speaker, Prince Mathew Kolawole, however, denied knowledge of such plan.

    Kolawole, who was at the Government House on Monday, responded to reporters’ enquiry on the issue, saying he was unaware of the name(s) of such person(s) making the allegations.

    The Assembly, however, said the Chief Judge could step aside to defend himself over the indictment by the state’s auditor-general.

    The House also recommended punitive measures on those indicated, to “avoid a reoccurrence”.

    It directed the state government to urgently resume payment of salaries of judicial workers.

    The report of the Committee on Public Accounts on the state “Auditor General’s report on the 2016 Financial Statements (Budget Performance Analysis on Personnel Cost, Overheads, Capital Expenditure and Revenue Performance of Kogi State for the Year Ended December 31, 2016)”, was presented by its chairman, Ahmed Mohammed.

     

  • Regatta to change the face of Lokoja

    Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, will wear a new look and attract national attention as the state upgrades its boat feast in the confluence town. JAMES AZANIA reports

    It is always a spectacle to watch. Men decked in eye-catching colours feverishly row their boats in friendly rivalry on their way to the finish line. It is the aquatic feast in Lokoja, one of Nigeria’s iconic cities.

    The Kogi State capital flaunts its history and endowments before all. It was once the seat of colonial government in Nigeria, and the signposts of that are everywhere in the city.

    Lokoja is also where two great rivers, Niger and Benue, meet.

    It is at that confluence that the regatta takes place, with a massive crowd looking on from the shores of the great Niger, or if you like, also of the great Benue.

    The state government knows the boat feast can offer a lot more than sightseeing. At this year’s edition of the regatta, Governor Yahaya Bello said that necessary steps will be taken to raise the annual Lokoja Boat Regatta festival to a national event as from next year.

    Governor Bello who gave the pledge in Lokoja while speaking at the 2018 edition of the festival, said that the government will deploy enough funding, together with the human resources to make this a reality.

    Describing the state as the centre of Nigeria’s culture, he said that the move will create more jobs for the youths and increase the state’s internally generated revenue.

    He commended the event organizers, the Forum of Lokoja Patriots (FLP) for its efforts at preserving the culture and tradition of the people of Lokoja and its environs.

    He assured the members of the forum that government’s intention was not to relegate them to the background, but to partner with them and the Lokoja Traditional Council, to reinforce the unique position of Lokoja in the history of Nigeria.

    The governor who was represented at the event by the state commissioner for culture and tourism, Mr. Victor Adoji, praised the Maigari of Lokoja, Alhaji Muhammadu Kabir, for defending and promoting the culture of his people.

    The Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Senator Olotunnimbe Mamora  said that the authority will soon embark on the development of the Lokoja waterfront, to further add value to the aesthetical beauty of the town.

    Represented by Director, Special Project, Dr Sheu Gidado, the NIWA boss said that the move will also safeguard security and businesses of the people living along the waterfront.

    The chairman of the occasion, Mr. Hassan Kilani urged the federal and state governments to pay more attention to the development of the country’s tourism potential, to reduce dependence on crude oil.

    He said that tourism, as one of the fastest growing sector globally, if fully tapped, can generate  millions of employment and serve as foreign exchange earner for the country.

    The chairman of the LFP, organizers of the event, Alhaji Idris Baba’ango commended government’s decision to partner with the forum, to raise the status of the festival.

    He appealed to corporate organizations and individuals to rally round the forum in its efforts to prevent the traditional festivals of the people from going into extinction.

    The event also featured cultural display, swimming and boat padding competitions and raffle draws.

  • Kogi governor earmarks 15,000 hectares of land for cattle colony

    Kogi governor earmarks 15,000 hectares of land for cattle colony

    Governor  Yahaya Bello of Kogi State yesterday  presented documents of 15, 000 hectares of land earmarked for cattle colony to the Federal Government.

    Presenting the acceptance document to Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh, Bello said the state would pilot the cattle colony programme.

    The governor said that 15,000 hectares of land have been mapped out in two local government areas of the state for cattle colony.

    Bello said 10,000 hectares of land had been earmarked for cattle colony in Ajaokuta Local Government Area and 5,000 hectares in Adavi Local Government Area.

    According to him, the quest to key into the programme was to accommodate the youth, herdsmen and farmers without conflicts and add value to the economic wellbeing of the people.

    The governor said the state and its people were ready to ensure the success of the initiative. He explained that the state government would gradually pay compensation to citizens that donated their land for the programme.

    According to him, the state has budgeted sufficient fund to ensure the smooth take-off of the programme in the areas of security and equipment.

    Ogbeh commended the state government for keying into the cattle colony initiative stating that the country currently has an estimated 19.5 million cows.

    “This is about courage. We have an estimated population of 19.5 million cattle now. If we have every individual keeping a ranch, it is an average population of 300 cows per herd. We need 1,711 ranches in every state, and 633,333 ranches in the country.

    “The land belongs to states under the Land Use Act and we don’t have any intention to colonise them.

    “I do hope that when the programme works, other states will key in,” the minister said.

    On debates that cattle business is private and should not gain government’s support, Ogbeh said the government had also supported crops production in the country.

    According to him, cattle contribute six per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

  • Faleke to Gov Bello: Don’t drag Buhari into double registration saga

    Faleke to Gov Bello: Don’t drag Buhari into double registration saga

    Governor Yahaya Bello has been warned to desist from dropping President Muhammadu Buhari’s name for his political gains.

    Chairman, House of Representatives on Customs and Excise, James Faleke said it was wrong for the governor to have claimed to be mentored by the President over his double voter registration issue with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Faleke was the Deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 gubernatorial election in Kogi state.

    In a reaction Tuesday, Faleke said governor Bello should desist from dragging the name of the President in the mud over the issue because such attitude was a direct opposite to the principles that the President Buhari stands for.

    Saying that Bello should rather deal with the consequences of the double registration by himself because President Buhari is reputed for his virtues of incorruptibility, honesty, discipline and spartan life style while Gov. Bello is known for his unbridled extravaganza and indiscipline.

    He said: “Yahaya Bello should stop using the president’s name to commit illegality.

    “I make bold to tell the governor that he has disgraced the good people of Kogi with his criminal act of double registration.

    “I can confirm that Governor Bello did his first registration in Abuja on January 30, 2011, while he did the second illegal registration on May 22, 2017 at Government House, Lokoja.

    “I challenge him to go to court on this. It is an incontrovertible fact. The governor ought to have known that for a body like INEC to come up with such a decision, it must have gotten its facts right.

    “After the registration, the governor’s camp in wild celebration to prove that the governor had succeeded in registering in Kogi state at last, went to town with pictures of the registration process backed by a press release signed by the Director – General of his media team, Kingsley Fanwo explaining why the governor had to re-register in Kogi.

    “It is very unfortunate that the Governor even went ahead to induce some INEC staff to remove the hard-drive from the computer used in committing the illegal registration in order to hide his criminal intensions. I have my facts and I also challenge him to go to court on this”.

    It would be recalled that Governor Bello was last week accused of double registration by the INEC.

    While three INEC workers  involved were relieved of their duties, it said the governor would have been prosecuted but for the immunity he enjoys.

    The governor had since denied any involvement in the double registration accusation, stating that having received regular mentorship from President Buhari, he has been operating above board in his official duties.

  • Standstill in Kogi Central as 24 hours curfew takes effect

    Standstill in Kogi Central as 24 hours curfew takes effect

    Commercial and social activities in Kogi Central have been brought to a halt following the emergency 24 hours curfew imposed by Governor Yahaya Bello, Wednesday night.

    The governor around 11pm on Wednesday imposed an emergency 24 hours curfew on five local government areas in Kogi central.

    The affected local government areas are: Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okene, Okehi and Ogori/Magongo.

    No reasons were given by the government for the imposition, in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Petra Onyegbule.

    Indications have however emerged pointing that the step might not be unconnected with security issues in the affected areas.

    The statement on the curfew read: “This is a notice of a 24-hour curfew imposed on residents of the five local government areas of Central Senatorial District beginning from midnight (already commenced). This curfew will last for 24 hours and it is absolute. No movement whatsoever shall be allowed.

    “All residents of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Okehi, Okene, Ogori/Magongo local government areas are advised to comply by this directive as anyone who runs foul would have themselves to blame.

    “Government regrets every inconvenience this might cause and assures citizens and residents this decision has been taken in the best interest of the state”.

    Security challenges in some of the affected areas have emerged of late, including the arson on police station, the killing of three operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), close to the gates of the gates of the Federal College of Education (FCE), in Okene and last week Wednesday’s assassination of a labour leader, Abdulmumini Yakub and one on his visitors, at Okene his residence, while a community another killing had previously occurs the previous day in Adavi.

    Speaking with The Nation on the telephone, an agitated resident in Okene, expressed surprise over the development, saying it took them unawares.

    The resident, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed that the curfew took effect, saying that the “whole neighbourhood” was bereft of activities.

    His words: “We did not get the wind of this…we just woke up to it. We are all forced indoors and the whole neighbourhood remains quite.

    “Information reaching us is that the curfew was announced overnight by the government. My son told me that he saw it on the facebook”.

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  • Bello launches Kogi GIS

    Bello launches Kogi GIS

    Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has inaugurated the Kogi State Geographic Information Systems (KOGIS). This, he said, would ensure an efficient land management system in processing, analysing, storing and retrieving land data electronically.

    Bello said the launch would move the state away from the inefficient era of analogue land documentation, to increase the channels of service delivery to the public.

    Under the KOGIS, property owners would recertify their Certificates of Occupancies (CofO), while holders of Right of Occupancies (ROO) are to obtain the secured CofO.

    Commissioner for Works Abdulmumuni Sadiq  noted that the new system will end land racketeering, double allocation, missing land files, haphazard land allocations, document mutilation, outright fraud and land encroachment, among others.

    “We cannot continue to do the same thing the same way and expect a different result. And so on assumption of office, I put on the table the new direction policy of this administration, and together, we resolved to deliver a seamless Land Administration,” he said.