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Tag: Kogi poll

  • Kogi poll and APC’s politics of reconciliation

    By Emmanuel Oladesu

    The divided Kogi State All Progressives Congress (APC) has closed ranks ahead of the November 16 governorship election. Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the politics of reconciliation in the chapter.

    For three and half years, peace eluded the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State. The genesis was the election that was ‘won’ by former Governor Abubakar Audu, but which was declared inconclusive, following his sudden demise on the eve of victory. Both sides in the intra-party squabbles went to court. When they returned, they went their separate ways.

    However, there was sudden reconciliation two weeks ago. Audu’s running mate, House of Representatives member James Faleke decided to ceasefire. The grief, dejection and anger had fizzled out. Time has become the ultimate healer of wounds. Putting back the sordid past behind him, the Ekerin-Ade, Okunland-born politician urged the APC family to vote massively for his erstwhile foe, Governor Yahaya Bello, on November 16.

    Faleke will be working along with the Chairman of the Bello Campaign Organisation, Senator Smart Adeyemi, to mobilise voters to achieve Bello’s second term, particularly in Yoruba and Igala-speaking areas.

    In 2015, Bello and Senator Dino Melaye were on the same page. They worked against Faleke’s interest as the potential inheritor of the crown after Audu’s death. Now, a deep gulf has developed between the two former friends. In the proposed senatorial election ordered by the Court of Appeal, Faleke will also be working with Adeyemi and Bello to ensure that Melaye does not return to the Senate.

    The unfolding drama underscores the fact that there is no permanent enemy in politics, but permanent interest. At stake is the collective interest of the APC, which, in the view of the party leadership, should not be sacrificed on the altar of personal ambition. Also, party elders, who are peeping at 2023, are trying to expand and strengthen their networks, while also ensuring that the party is not unduly polarised in the Northcentral.

    Four years ago, Faleke was gazing at the Lugard House, Lokoja, the state capital, as deputy governor or governor to be. He had campaigned vigorously with Prince Audu. The candidate and running make traversed the diverse districts and zones; Okun-Ebolo-Igbomina, Ebira, and Igala. The former governor, Capt. Idris Wada, was not a threat to the ticket. On poll day, the power of incumbency collapsed.

    During the electioneering, Bello, an aggrieved governorship aspirant, was nowhere to be found. He was nursing the pains of defeat at the primary. But, he became the beneficiary of Audu’s death. According to Audu/Faleke camp, he was not even magnanimous in his ‘emergency’ victory.

    Bello’s morale had been damped by the outcome of the primary where he locked horns with Audu. He instantly jumped at the offer of the ticket, which he had coveted at the primary, but lost his deposit. His ambition had crumbled because he was no match for Prince Audu, who was perceived as the pathfinder of modern Kogi. Bello got only two votes at the shadow poll. The younger aspirant did not concede defeat. He threatened to sue the party, saying the primary was flawed. But, when it was evident that litigation would be counter-productive, he withdrew his case and went to his shell. Some even alleged that Bello worked against the APC during the original 2015 governorship election. During the campaigns, he did not identify with the party.

    Also, Bello shunned the reconciliation brokered by the party. But, like a Phoenix, his ambition rose from the ashes when some powerful forces in the party and the Federal Government instigated the APC national leadership to forward his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Although his substitution was a sort of systematic imposition, it was later validated by the court. The only snag was that, unable to weld the party together, Bello failed to become the symbol of party unity in post-Audu era. He could not adorn the cap of a philosopher-king.

    Faleke threatened fire and brimstone. The court judgment fell below his expectation. It was another baptism of fire for the Lagos politician. He returned to complete his tenure in the House of Representatives. In March, he was re-elected to represent Ikeja Constituency. The federal legislator had ruled out any meeting point with the governor, claiming that, apart from reaping where he did not sow, he lacked the skill and competence to make peace with those he politically ‘robbed.’

    Instructively, Faleke turned down the suggestion that he should pair with Bello in the supplementary election as running mate. Instead, he suggested that he should be the automatic flag bearer and Audu’s son, Mohammed, should be running mate, a proposal turned down by the APC leadership.

    But, more annoying to Faleje was that, after the court case and Bello’s swearing on, he made no effort to pacify the aggrieved and unite the party. “The governor has refused to be father of all,” said Faleke, adding that “since he became governor, he has not called me.”

    “I think the style of the governor lacks maturity. He lacks maturity in his handling of state affairs. He was not prepared. It was a gift given to him. Unfortunately, because he didn’t work for the gift, he does not know how to go about it,” he stressed.

    The federal lawmaker accused Bello of poor governance, citing the examples of unpaid salaries and arrears, comatose health sector, lack of consultation, sidelining of some stakeholders, alleged instigation of thuggery and violence, and failure to tackle insecurity.

    All these issues were also raised by Bello’s estranged deputy, Simon Achuba, who cried out that his boss was after his life.

    But, Bello knew where he was going. As the party prepared for the recent primary, he did everything to secure the ticket. Although many aspirants pushed for a direct primary, it was turned down by the party leadership. In fact, some contenders were edged out through disqualification. During the exercise, the governor was on top of the situation. He triumphed at the intra-party poll.

    Having secured the ticket, Bello adorned a thinking cap. He initiated reconciliation in a bid to pacify his co-contenders. He visited key national leaders of the ruling party, including President Muhammadu Buhari, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Faleke. During the visits, a new campaign slogan: ‘4 plus 4’ emerged.

    The governor also reached out to the elders of the state beyond party affiliations. Bello sought support from eminent Kogites, including former Police Affairs Minister Gen. David Jemibewon, Gen. Abdullahi Mamman, Alhaji Idris Yusuf, Vice Admiral Ajayi Joseph, Chief Funso Ako, Dr. Oluwayomi Atte, Col. Olusegun Oloruntoba, Dr. James Arosanyin, former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN), Chief James Awoniyi. Chief Funso Bodunde, Alhaji Isiaq Ajibola and Deinde Abolarin.

    The intra-party reconciliation showed that APC has decided to put its House in order. Bello’s strategy is paying off. Faleke said the preparations for the election will be smooth, adding that “it will get better now that our people have joined in the campaign.”

    But, he said he had no apology for parting ways with the governor for almost four years. He said: “I think I need to make certain things clear. To me, the decision of INEC and APC was not legal and I thought it was against the law of our land. Hence, I went to court.

    “First, I had no direct anger against Governor Yahaya Bello in the  first place. My anger in 2015 was against INEC and Chief Oyegun and some other persons who turned the hand of justice upside down and purely against the rules.

    “So, I went to court to challenge the decision of INEC and APC and the Supreme Court gave judgment against us. That case is now in our legal record.”

    Faleke explained why the reconciliation took that long. He said: “After the judgement, there were some reconciliation committees set up by the party same people that derailed the project and although we knew we were not going to be favoured, we attended the reconciliation and until Oyegun left, he refused to do anything on the reports.”

    Frowning at Oyegun’s leadership style, he said:”We prayed for Oyegun that his own affairs will be “properly managed”the same way he managed the affairs of Kogi).”

    Faleke recalled that after Oyegun’s exit, his successor, Adam’s Oshiomhole set up another committee to look into the Kogi matter, which was also not successful due to none implementation of the suggestions.

    He said the lack of reconciliation made the party to record “low results” at the general elections, adding that, although the Audu/Faleke  camp worked for the party with their resources, it was reluctantly done.

    He added: “Why people thought I was fighting the governor was because of some of my criticism of his programmes, especially the staff screening. Let me say that when the governor started the screening, I commended him for being bold to take the step, but he was advised wrongly on the procedures. This was our  main complaint then.

    “I stopped the criticism when former Governor Wada came on air to say that he had actually applied for N50b to be able to pay all outstanding arrears of salaries as at 2015 as against the N20B released to the State when he was the governor.

    “He clarified this and It was clear then that the first N20b Kogi got was and could not have been enough to pay the salaries estimated to be 50B by his predecessor.  We are all aware that he got the balance of the bailout some months ago and has paid up the outstanding of the salaries.

    The federal legislator did not explain the role of Asiwaju Tinubu in the reconciliation. But, he paid a tribute to the former governor of Lagos.

    Faleke said: “In politics, I have been in the political college of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for more than 20 years now; from none active to very active politics. I have come to be trained and accepted that bitterness of disagreements in politics is  different from disagreements in family matters. It is said that there is no permanent enemy in politics.”

    He added: “Let me say this for the first time: my late principal had warned his family at his last minutes on earth not to announce his death, if he dies before the final result was announced. But, somewhere somehow, one of them broke the news with the hope that he would be the beneficiary of his death. Unfortunately, my own native person also felt that it was an opportunity for him to be the first governor from our native place. Time heal wounds.

    “Asiwaju is wonderful human being who has thought us to be hardworking, to show love to others, irrespective of his or her tribe, to empower others when you are positioned. When you sit with him and learn from him, you are better equipped to face life.

    “He baptised me and he thought me the art of forgiveness. Take a deep look at his life and for those who at one time or the other have done him wrong, he has always forgiven them and even bring them back to reckoning again.

    “I expect the party to win. Though we must accept that the governor has made some mistakes in this first tenure, I see it as a learning process for him and mainly because his close advisers were not there to advise properly.”

  • INEC should use its server for Kogi poll, says Aro

    BY GBADE OGUNWALE

    The deputy governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State, Samuel Bamidele Aro, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to activate its central server for the poll. He spoke with GBADE OGUNWALE on the need for the umpire to safeguard the sanctity of the ballot box.

    There is no legal backing for the use of the central server installed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for recording and storing results transmitted from the various polling centres during elections. That was why the use or non use of the server became a source of controversy in the electoral petition filed by the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2019 elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    While Atiku had insisted that INEC used the server to record results in the presidential election, the electoral body denied using the device. After days of arguments by the two parties, the court had to make its ruling and the rest is history.

     

    Legality of server:

    However, the deputy governorship candidate of the PDP in the upcoming Kogi election, Sam Aro, has called on the umpire to deploy the server for use in the November 16 governorship election. According to him, “INEC has every right to use the central server for electronic transmission of results in the Kogi election. The argument that President Muhammadu Buhari declined assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill should not deter INEC from using the server.”

    Aro argued that as an independent body charged with the conduct of elections in the country, no authority can question any decision taken by INEC to deliver free, fair and credible elections in the country. Canvassing the use of the server further, Aro is of the strong view that it will reduce incidents of ballot snatching and falsification of results at coalition centres. Citing the high political volatility of the state during elections, the PDP chieftain stressed that electronic transmission of results would lend credibility to the outcome of the poll. “There would be nothing left for ballot snatching thugs and their sponsors if they know that the results of the elections have been transmitted and received at the INEC headquarters. I believe that any political party that does not set out to rig elections should embrace electronic transmission of results. I don’t believe that any political party ready to respect the integrity of the ballot would kick against electronic transmission of election results because the device is meant to sanitise the electoral process,” Aro added.

     

    Utility of server:

    The PDP chieftain argued that the high number of election petition cases recorded in the various categories of elections across the county would have been averted if the electoral body had made use of its central server in the 2019 general elections. “Above all, it would have gone a long way to establish the integrity of the umpire and the credibility of the electoral process. This would have been to the credit of INEC and a pass mark for the country’s electoral system,” Aro emphasised.

     

    Electoral security:

    Raising concerns over security of lives and property before, during and after the election, the PDP candidate called on the electoral body and the security agencies to live up to expectations of the voting population in Kogi State. Stating that violence and intimidation cannot win elections, the former member of the House of Representatives said even though the PDP has no agenda for violence and intimidation of voters during the election, he would not say the same for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. He deplored the spate of sustained violent attacks on opposition elements in the state in recent times, saying that most of the victims happened to be chieftains and known supporters of the opposition. Aro expressed regrets that weeks after the gun attacks during the September 3 primary election of the PDP at the Lokoja Township Stadium, the security agencies have yet to arrest anyone in connection with the incident. He said that although the opposition is worried over possible violence during the election, the PDP will defend its votes by every legitimate means available.

     

    Power of incumbency:

    Aro said there is no fear of an incumbent governor with poor performance, stressing that the PDP defeated a number of non performing incumbent APC governors in the 2019 general elections. According to him, if the PDP could defeat incumbent APC governors in Oyo, Bauchi, Adamawa and Imo states, then, Kogi will not be an exception. He added that the Kogi state governor has performed far worse than the APC governors in the four states that were taken over by the PDP. “So you can see that Kogi is going to be a walk over for the PDP,” he added.

    On the N30.6 billion bailout recently released to the Kogi State government for payment of workers salary arrears and pensions

    The PDP candidate said much as he would not question the wisdom in the release of the funds close to election, the timing is another thing entirely. “The questions to ask is, is the money being used for the purpose for which it was released. What percentage of the money has been used in paying salaries and pensions. Has the authority that released the money bothered to find out if the money is being used to serve the purpose for which it was released? The truth is that the workers and pensioners who are being owed years of arrears in salaries and pensions are no fools. They are going to answer these questions with their votes on election day.”

     

    Choice before Okunland:

    The candidate said his integrity and credibility will speak for the PDP, stressing that the Kogi West District has always remained a stronghold of the PDP. “Besides, the people in my Kogi West District are the major casualties of the four years of maladministration under the present APC. More so, my track records during my tenure as member of the House of Representatives speak for me. Above all, the PDP is presenting a formidable candidate in person of Engineer Musa Wada who is coming into politics with no baggage of any kind. Wada has an enviable record of public service and he is coming with policies and ideas that will break the chains of poverty, unemployment, insecurity and an atmosphere of despair that the present administration has entrenched in the state. I can tell you without any equivocation that the PDP holds the winning ticket in the November 16 election.”

  • Kogi poll: INEC trains 210 security personnel

    Ahead of the November 16 governorship election in Kogi State, the Independent National Electoral  Commission (INEC), has begun the ‘training the trainers’ programme on election security.

    The participants drawn from across the 21 local government areas, include officers of the Nigeria Police, the Army, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other paramilitary forces.

    Speaking at the opening of the training session for personnel from Kogi West in Lokoja the state capital, Dr Sa’ad Idris, who was represented by his deputy, Victoria Ettah-Messi, noted that the INEC is not empowered by law to make arrests.

    She explained that it is the police, in collaboration with other security agencies, that is charged with maintaining law and order on election day.

    She said: “We cannot conduct an election in an atmosphere that is not peaceful or conducive, but INEC is not charged with keeping the security, and that is why we need you during the conduct of the election, as you will help us conduct free and fair election.”

    Ettah-Messi called on the participants to do their best in impacting what they have learned on others in their various areas of operation.

    She commended the European Centre for Electoral Services (ECES), for their efforts in promoting electoral success in Nigeria, noting that the gesture has continued to advance.

  • Kogi poll: INEC trains 210 security personnel

    Ahead of the November 16 governorship election in Kogi State, the Independent National Electoral  Commission (INEC), has begun the ‘training the trainers’ programme on election security.

    The participants drawn from across the 21 local government areas, include officers of the Nigeria Police, the Army, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other paramilitary forces.

    Speaking at the opening of the training session for personnel from Kogi West in Lokoja the state capital, Dr Sa’ad Idris, who was represented by his deputy, Victoria Ettah-Messi, noted that the INEC is not empowered by law to make arrests.

    She explained that it is the police, in collaboration with other security agencies, that is charged with maintaining law and order on election day.

    She said: “We cannot conduct an election in an atmosphere that is not peaceful or conducive, but INEC is not charged with keeping the security, and that is why we need you during the conduct of the election, as you will help us conduct free and fair election.”

    Ettah-Messi called on the participants to do their best in impacting what they have learned on others in their various areas of operation.

    She commended the European Centre for Electoral Services (ECES), for their efforts in promoting electoral success in Nigeria, noting that the gesture has continued to advance.

  • Kogi poll: Can Yahaya get second term?

    Many cheiftains of Kogi State All Progressives Congress (APC) and other eminent indigenes are up in arms against Governor Yahaya Bello over his second term ambition. George Oyedepo examines his chances at the primary and the governorship election.

    Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has not presided over an efficient administration in the last four years. To many people, he has brought disgrace to the advocates of inclusion of youths in governance

    Recently, former Kogi State Governor Ibrahim Idris ruffled feathers when he boldly stated that life in the state has become a miserable experience. To many indigenes and friends of the state, Idris was stating the obvious. The sordid stories coming out of the state since Bello became governor has increased the pain of the people.  The Confluence State, as Kogi is proudly referred to by indigenes and residents, has become a Confluence of Absurdities.  Arguably, Bello is top on the list of governors swimming in a sea of disgust and disdain. On this one thing, there is an overwhelming agreement that Bello, whose emergence as governor was dramatic and incidental, must be shown the exit. If ever, there were developmental gains credited to his predecessors, he has since reversed them and driven the quality of governance many rungs down the ladder.

    Although Bello’s All Progressives Congress (APC) won the majority of seats in the House of Assembly election, the Peoples Democratic Party (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. 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 PDP. The state assembly election which, possibly indicates the wishes of the people may have favoured the APC, but it does not provide any sort of comfort to Bello.

    It may be strongly argued that governance has taken a leave from Kogi since Bello entered the saddle. Like many Nigerian states, government is the largest employer of labour in Kogi. Bello committed his first and enduring blunder when he embarked on a screening exercise, ostensibly to fish out ghost workers and save funds for the state. On the surface, the intention was good, but till today, it is doubtful if the state government knows the exact number of its employees. Different figures have been bandied between the various workers union and the executive arm of government. The most visible and painful result of the head count of workers in Kogi is the unwarranted delay in payment of salaries and other statutory monetary entitlements for upwards of several months. But Bello has recently been in the news, claiming he only owes Kogi workers four months salary.

    Stripped of their collective pride, most indigenes of Kogi are waiting for the legitimate opportunity to use their vote to oust Bello. Therefore, the groundswell for the removal of Bello from Lugard House, the official residence of the governor, may have started with the insistence by interested parties in Kogi APC that Bello must be defeated at the governorship primary. As things stand today, the most important confluence in Kogi now is not a natural phenomenon like two rivers, but the confluence of a low bar. The mixture and confluence of mediocrity in governance.

    Bello has resorted to strong arm tactics. He frequently uses instruments of state to coerce the hapless populace.   His new modus operandi is to abuse or mudsling anyone considered a possible replacement for their mediocrity.  Everyone that is mentioned as a possible replacement becomes marked as an enemy who has never done anything good.  Recently, he went after a retiring Director-General, claiming he charged people to offer employment because that one expressed interest in running for governorship. Another time, some publication mentioned another DG as a possible consideration and his reaction was to start looking all over the place for election results of the fellow hopefully to prove that since he didn’t win his polling unit or ward in the just concluded national elections, then, he is of no political value.

    The story is that the DG whose polling unit in Egbe’s results he is seeking is disappointing to him. He won the presidential elections in his unit for APC, delivered APC House of Representatives by a wide margin, and lost the senatorial to PDP by one single vote. This result is one of the best in Kogi West outside Koto and some parts of Lokoja. A comprehensive analysis of the state appointees and the government’s candidates in the election shows that the speaker, commissioners and advisers and assistants all failed woefully and could not sell their boss or the administration they serve in almost all polling units and wards of their homes.

    The governor deceives himself to claim that he delivered Kogi Central to the President.  The truth is that Kogi Central has always voted with and stayed with the President in every election before now.  Natasha Akpoti is said to have won the Kogi Central elections and prayerfully will have her stolen mandate restored. In the East, where few individuals and the Audu political family worked for APC, the results are out and good, but in Olamaboro where Onoja comes from, the elections were marred by violence, ballot boxes snatching, gun shots and intimidation.

    Bello’s government harassed a senator to be marooned on a hospital bed in a hospital so that a recall against the senator will take him out while he was incapacitated. Unfortunately, he wasted the salaries of workers on the failed recall. When elections came, Bello harassed him again, kept him out of the state, prevented him from campaigning and even tried to stop him from entering the state to cast his vote but they still lost the election to him.  A governor that cannot secure a recall in absentia or win an election against a candidate in absentia is an apparent political lightweight, and socially irrelevant person, who is not fit to come back as governor.

    Yet the governor and his men believe they have earned a second term ticket and superiorly acquitted themselves because they delivered the president by the state voting overwhelmingly for President Buhari of APC in the 2019 presidential election.

    One of Bello’s closest aides who is often blamed for the abysmal performance of the governor is Edward Onoja, whose role as chief of staff is supposed to administer the affairs of the governor, his calendar, appointments, correspondence, dispatch, domestic issues and generally ensure he works efficiently. Onoja and the governor have been accused of preventing state political appointees of a certain extraction from their duty posts in the government house because there areas didn’t deliver victorious elections to the president, but even worse, they failed to stop a senatorial candidate who had become their Achilles heel, Dino Melaye, a fellow rambunctious, even if more sensible fellow, but an opposition figure and rabble rouser. Bello and Onoja had rehabilitated and propped up Smart Adeyemi in the hope and plan that he would defeat Melaye, but their prayers were unanswered. The victory of Melaye instead of being perceived as what it is that is a rejection of Smart Adeyemi and Yahaya Bello because of his failure is now blamed on political appointees.

    At 43, Bello is the youngest governor in Nigeria, but his reign has only brought disgrace to the much touted inclusion of youths in governance. Bello is a man of history. The period leading to his emergence as governor appeared to have enmeshed in constitutional logjam, as the APC’s governorship candidate, Abubakar Audu, who was poised to win in the election died before its election was concluded. Bello was picked by the APC to replace him. Mr. 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. But the party had persuaded Faleke to retain his running mate position, which he turned down. Thus Yahaya 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.

    Bello has since doused the flame of the prevailing sentiment and squandered the huge political capital he did not have or earn, but which was given to him freely by death. Through his immature, naïve, inexperienced, callous and arrogant mannerisms, Bello has taken Kogi to the abyss of misrule that no one could have imagined.

    It is a sad commentary that Kogi boasts of such eminent personalities as the late Prof Pius Adesanmi, the Babatunde Irukeras of this world, Suleiman Baba Ali, Jibrin Isah Echocho, Victor Adoji, Natasha Akpoti, the current Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Late Arc. Olorunfemi; the political sages Sunday Awoniyi and Silas Daniyan and countless others. Today, there is a big move that is eager to remove the serious affliction that the reign of Yahaya Bello has brought on Kogi.

     

  • Kogi poll: Odds against Bello

    Going by the results of the recent National Assembly elections in Kogi State, observers are apprehensive about the chances of Governor Yahaya Bello in the November election. The governor appears to be facing a stiff opposition within and outside the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Rasaq Olaitan reports.

    WINNING his second term mandate is not going to be an easy ride for Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State. There are enough reasons to suggest that Bello and the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are heading for a collision, ahead of the governorship primary scheduled for August. The grounds for the clash are so fertile that the governor, unsure of his fate in the APC, is said to be shopping for an alternative party to realise his second term ambition.

    The governor may have started making arrangements to seek for his re-election on the platform of the Accord Party (AP). He has denied this.

    Bello’s imminent face-off with the National Secretariat of the APC is not unconnected with a string of petitions  by individuals and groups against him. The petitioners are warning about the consequences of fielding Bello as the candidate, because his style of leadership has alienated him from  stakeholders within and outside the party. Some of the petitioners demanded that Bello should not be given a second term ticket.

    Consequently, powerful forces in Abuja and in the top echelons of the APC are said to have moved against the governor. These include the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole; Kogi-born National Women Leader Hajia Baiwa Salamotu; and the Abubakar Audu/James Faleke faction of the Kogi APC.

    A source puts it this way: “The ticket has already been taken. There will not be a second term, because Bello’s abysmal style of leadership has further subjected the state to political and economic hemorrhage and Abuja has been made to be aware of all of these and the consequences of handing the party’s ticket to him.”

    Last week, a group, Kogi Rescue Mission (KRM), embarked on a peaceful protest to the national headquarters of the APC, with numerous placards stating the group’s grievances. During the protest, the group, led by its President Ali Dan, described the Bello-led administration as a threat to welfare and the economic prosperity of the state.

    In its protest letter to the party’s national leadership, the group highlighted various anti-people activities of the administration, including suicidal deaths amongst the state civil servants whose salaries have not been paid for many months, misuse of state resources, hunger and perceived molestation of people perceived not to be supporters of the government.

    The protest letter reads: “Salaries of civil servants for November and 60 per cent of December 2017 are yet to be paid, despite the fact that the government receiving N20 billion as bailout funds, N10b development reimbursement funds, over N21 billion  from the Paris Club refund and money from the monthly federal allocations, as well as internally generated revenue.

    “As a result of the non-payment of salaries, a number of civil servants decided to take their own lives, because of their inability to meet up with their family needs, while over a hundred have died due to lack of funds to continue treatment.”

    Ali added: “Businesses have folded up, people are leaving for other states to seek refuge and workers have become paupers, feeding from hand to mouth. You will believe me that on no account will the people support and vote for a governor that operates draconian policy of this nature.”

    The KRM, who decried the dearth of public institutions in the state, also told APC national leadership that workers have been turned to internally displaced persons (IDPs) without recourse to dignity of labour, as enshrined in the labour acts.

    His words: “Workers in Kogi State are now living like IDPs; Kogi State has become hunger/poverty capital of the country, as nothing seems to be working due to the sorry state of salaries.

    “In Kogi State today, there are no public primary schools for the past two years, as they only exist in structures, without teachers to teach the pupils; due to non-payment of salaries. There are no primary health centres for the past two years; pensioners are not been paid for the past 12 months; there’s no judiciary for the past eight months, due to non-payment of their salaries and no development anywhere in the state. Everything in Kogi State is in comatose and the people are despondent.”

    Ali appealed to the national leadership of the APC not to risk giving the ticket to Bello, adding that, with his appalling style of leadership, the ruling party has no electoral destiny in the state.

    He said: “We are calling on President Muhammadu Buhari, the APC National Working Committee (NWC)  led by Comrade Adams Oshiomole and the National Leader, Sen. Bola Tinubu, not to risk the ticket of the APC for Yahaya Bello.

    “If there is integrity in our party, the APC, that means Bello will not feature in the forthcoming Kogi State governorship election on the ticket of the APC. At the moment, Kogi State owes over N140 billion and the governor recently applied for another loan of N30 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria, which will make the debt profile of the state to rise to N170 billion.

    “We are crying for the help of President Muhammadu Buhari and the NWC of the APC, led by Adams Oshiomhole and the National Leader, Bola Tinubu, to salvage Kogi State from this extreme slavery of the Yahaya Bello-led administration.”

    Amid claims and counter claims that Kogi State government owes its workers about 38 months’ salaries, another group, the Network of Kogi State Associations, has written to the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), seeking authentication of the sum of N309.75 billion accrued to the state in over three and half years.

    The letter by its General Secretary, Mr. Atekojo Usman, urged the AGF to authenticate the inflow of funds to the administration from January 2016 till date. The group, an umbrella body to numerous socio-cultural and political groups, said the move was in the interest of the people.

    Part of the letter reads: “As bona fide indigenes of Kogi State, we wish to request your good office to expeditiously and comprehensively authenticate financial releases to Kogi State government since Governor Yahaya Bello assumed office on January 27, 2016.”

    It said the state under Bello “obtained loans between May 2017 and January  2018, got Paris Club refunds in three tranches, got bailout refund from the Federal Government, as well as statutory allocation for the state and local governments.”

    Part of the plot to stop Bello from actualising his second term ambition, it was gathered, is the ongoing case instituted at an Abuja Federal High Court by the Haddy Ametuo-led Kogi State APC executives. The Ametuo-led party executive was allegedly removed from office by Bello with the backing of erstwhile National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, and replaced with loyalists of the governor. The sacked executive committee is in court to demand for its reinstatement. If that happens, not only would Bello lose his grips on the party, he is certainly going to come up against a hostile executives and delegates during the forthcoming governorship primary.

    It is not immediately certain who among those currently positioning themselves to take over from Bello in the APC has got the nod of the APC kingmakers. What is certain is that the plot against the governor thickened last week with the official declaration by former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Jibrin Usman, to contest for the  APC platform. The decision by him to run on the APC platform came as a surprise to many who expected him to join the PDP. However, informed sources in the APC and those close to the retired naval chief indicate that the choice of party may be a part of the bigger plot to deny Bello the APC ticket.

    A source close to the naval chief who does not want his name in print said: “This is not about Admiral Jibrin Usman. It is about the choice of Kogi people, especially the suffering masses. After due consultations, we are glad he has eventually bowed to pressure and accepted to run for governorship in the interest of the masses. He was wanted in the PDP and so also in the APC. Anyway, he has always been in the APC. We decided that the APC is the appropriate platform to actualise the mission to rescue Kogi from maladministration.

    “Of course, Kogi State is very strategic and the APC at the centre will not want to lose such a strategic state to the opposition. We are confident that by the grace of Almighty God, with the level of consultations and the support of the APC apparatus right from the national, state, local government to the ward levels, Admiral Jibrin Usman will clinch the APC ticket in August and subsequently with the majority votes of the Kogi electorate, irrespective of party and ethnic considerations, he will emerge the governor-elect after the November 2 governorship election.”

    In separate statements at the weekend, two groups, the Forum of Ex-political Office Holders and the KRM, said they have endorsed Usman’s aspiration to contest the November governorship election.

    In a statement by its Secretary General, Suleiman Adaji, the Forum of Ex-political Office Holders, said the former political office holders who served under former Governor Idris Wada between 2012 and 2016 are excited about the governorship ambition of Admiral Jibrin Usman. He disclosed that if Usman wins the election, members of the forum have been assured of the payment of their outstanding four month’s salary arrears, which the administration of Governor Bello has refused to pay.

    The KRM coordinator, Comrade Ahmed Muazu, said Usman’s decision to yield to pressure to run for the governorship was an answer to the prayers of the good people of Kogi State.

    He said the support of the movement for the candidature of Jibril Usman dates back to 2017 and that it was “borne out of the deepest conviction of his capacity and capability to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people, as well as reposition the state for development.”

    The group, he stressed, “has observed with pleasure the giant contributions made by the naval boss during his service years to the development of the state”. This, he added, “is a pointer that if given the opportunity he would do more for the state”.

    Muazu listed some of the contributions of the former military chief to the progress of Kogi State to include the establishment of a naval base in Banda, Lokoja and Idah and a naval secondary school at Okura among others. He added: “His great disposition to the safety and protection of our common treasury makes him a natural solution to the restoration of good governance in Kogi State come November 2019.”

    The Special Adviser to Bello on Social Media, Aliyu Abubakar Adeiza, has taken a swipe at critics of the administration. He said the the governor has performed well to deserve a second term in office. Adeiza said the allegations of non-performance against Bello and speculations that he would not get a second term ticket are “clearly ill-conceived, ill-motivated and borne out of mischief”.

    He dismissed the speculations as mere “rumours” peddled by “diaspora politicians”. He said facts available show that the governor has done well in the areas of education, roads and health, given what he met on ground at the time of inauguration.

    Adeiza said: “It was when Governor Yahaya Bello (GYB) came in that things started improving. If anyone says GYB has created confusion in the state, it is all propaganda. We will give GYB another four years. He would do more to strengthen some of these landmark achievements. The PDP and all those padding such rumours are no match for GYB in the coming election. The only threat is the threat to the peace in Kogi, because of their inordinate ambition and apparent readiness to cause havoc.”

     

  • Kogi: Appeal Court dismisses Wada’s appeal

    Kogi: Appeal Court dismisses Wada’s appeal

    The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by former governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada, challenging the decision of the state election tribunal which upheld Yahaya Bello’s victory in last year’s governorship election.

    In a split decision of four to one, the court held that Bello was validly substituted for the late Abubakar Audu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, who died before the conclusion of the election.

    Dismissing Wada’s argument that Bello was not qualified for the election because he did not participate in all stages of the election, the court held that the governor participated in all the stages “by virtue of his party participation and accrued interest.”

    Justice Mojeed Owoade, who read the lead judgment, said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was right to have merged the votes scored by Audu (before he died) and that of Bello (in the supplementary election) to return the APC’s candidate as winner.

    The court, which resolved all the six issues determined against the appellant, held that Wada failed to prove his allegation of that the election was held in violation of the Constitution and Electoral Act.

  • Appeal Court upholds Bello’s election

    Appeal Court upholds Bello’s election

    The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday upheld the election of Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

    A five-member panel led by Justice Jumai Hannatu Sankey held that the appellant, James Faleke, failed to substantiate his allegation that Bello was not qualified for the election.

    Justice Sankey, who read the lead judgment, resolved all the six issues determined against the appellant.

    The panel consequently upheld the judgment of the election tribunal and dismissed Faleke’s appeal.

  • Appeal Court reserves judgment in Kogi election dispute

    Appeal Court reserves judgment in Kogi election dispute

    The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Tuesday reserved judgments in two appeals filed against the decision of the election tribunal which upheld the election of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.

    The appeals were filed by James Faleke of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The court announced after hearing parties adopted their briefs of argument that a date for judgments will be communicated to them.

    Faleke’s lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), urged the court to set aside the decision of the tribunal.

    Olanipekun equally urged the court to void Bello’s election on the grounds that he (Bello) was not properly nominated.

    He argued that Bello did not participate in all the electioneering processes as required by law before he emerged as his party’s candidate in rerun election.

    Olanipekun urged the court to allow the appeal and declare Faleke the proper person for the governorship seat.

  • Kogi: Faleke fails in bid to unseat Bello

    Kogi: Faleke fails in bid to unseat Bello

    The Kogi State governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja on Monday dismissed the petition filed the deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in last November governorship election in the state, James Falake, challenging the emergence and subsequent election of Yahaya Bello as governor of the state.

    A three-man panel led by Justice Halima Mohammed held that Faleke lacks locus standi to challenge Bello’s election having never been sponsored by his party as governorship candidate in the November 21, 2015 election and the December 6, 2015 supplementary poll respectively.

    The tribunal dismissed the petition for lacking in merit.

    Details later…