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Tag: Yahaya Bello

  • APC in a quandary over Kogi’s Bello

    GOVERNOR Yahaya Bello of Kogi State is widely regarded as the most inept governor in the country, barring perhaps the stiff competition former Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari, gave him in the past two or three years. But since the exit of his competitor after a most uninspiring rule, Mr Bello has become incomparable. He is widely regarded as youthful, a claim now being put to the test by his detractors who insist he is in fact older than he looks and claims. Having punished Kogi for about four years with nothing really to show for his governorship other than that he wasted the state’s time and resources, he has shockingly indicated a desire to fight for re-election on the assumption that his first term could be attributed to his electoral effort.

    For a man eager to get a second term, and having sadly neither worked for it nor earned it, it is passing strange that he is going about it the wrongest way. He has still not cleared the salary backlog of civil servants, other than make highly publicised token gestures, and he has neither courted nor befriended state workers and other Kogites whom he has oppressed and scandalised. Yet he has presented himself to be canonised by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to seek a second term in November. He seems to think that since his party initiated the ugly and reprehensible conspiracy to foist him on the state some four years ago, it should be wiling again to get him into office by hook or crook. It is not clear how they would do it, or whether they are even willing to affront all civilised values to sanction his participation.

    But whether the APC allows itself the humiliation of embracing Mr Bello’s ambition or not, it beggars belief that the governor sees the brutalisation of the state as the surest way to make an unforgettable impression on the electorate. He has thrown his hat into the ring. It should have been immediately and forcefully picked up and hurled at him. There are many reasons to do this beyond his scandalous management of the state’s financial and human resources, beyond his deliberate refusal to pay civil servants their salaries. He hopes to contest the governorship three months from now, but he has done nothing of significance to justify even one vote, indeed, no reason at all to endear him to the electorate. He has fought everyone, some of them the state’s leading social, political and judicial elite, and befriended no one, no matter how insignificant, including unknown and uncelebrated lawmakers.

    Two of his enemies stand out, two gentlemen who had nothing against him starting out, and who even actually befriended him and helped pave the way for him to be accepted and crowned. The Chief Judge of the state, Nasir Ajanah, an Ebira like him, stands out. For elementary reasons, including refusing to subordinate the judiciary to the executive branch, Mr Bello singled out Justice Ajanah for excoriation and intimidation. Adopting the reprehensible style by which former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, was unceremoniously shoved out of office, using a combination of propaganda and judicial heresy, Mr Bello had hoped to quickly get rid of the chief judge in favour of his Man Friday. He cajoled the mannequins at the Kogi House of Assembly to initiate impeachment process, and hoped that his intimidatory tactics would persuade the public and help galvanise the state judiciary to endorse his wish.

    Not only did the judiciary stand pat and courageously resisted his bullying tactics, judicial workers also lined up behind their embattled chief judge. Consequently, the legislature’s floundering plot to unseat Justice Ajanah failed miserably, embers of the conflict nevertheless still flickering. Judicial workers union, Kogi branch, was shocked to see that the top wigs of the judiciary in Abuja were ambivalent towards a chief judge they had a duty to protect against the infamous executive putsch hatched by an irresponsible politician.

    Since he lacked policies and programmes, Mr Bello seemed to have nothing else to do than engage in verbal and judicial brawls with officials and politicians he has had no reason to fight. His other prominent enemy, who started out as a loyal party member, is the deputy governor, Simon Achuba. Mr Achuba was not as discriminating as Abiodun Faleke, the late Prince Abubakar Audu’s running mate who should have constitutionally inherited the governorship mantle when the APC candidate slumped and died in 2015 after the governorship election had been fought and won. Mr Faleke, angry because of the injustice perpetrated by his own party against him, spurned the indignity of being asked to be the automatic running mate of the inexperienced and untested Mr Bello. But Mr Achuba rushed in where angels feared to tread, and only months later became public enemy number one of the cantankerous governor. All manner of intimidatory tactics have been brought to bear on the deputy governor in order to force him to quit. And yet he was no radical, nor even a querulous politician. Sadly both the legislature and the judiciary have signed on to the Bello rigmarole designed to force Mr Achuba out. The conspirators may succeed because there are really not many people left with any spine in the state.

    Mr Bello is sustained in office by his supporters and mentors in Abuja. The support is so wide-ranging and so massive that he does not feel burdened by the dictates of conscience to act responsibly in office. He hopes their support will get him the ticket, assuming the APC at the national level caves in to injustice. More, he hopes that once he gets the ticket to run for re-election, he would use all manner of state coercive machineries — all of them without exception — to win the November poll and coax a pliant judiciary to endorse the repugnant outcome. These are the reasons Mr Bello is fighting everybody, exempting no one, a few months to a decisive election that could finally ruin the state. He has made no friends, and is not encumbered to make any. He has enacted no great policy and built no significant structure, because he has by his obnoxious habit formed the opinion that his powerful political and judicial friends in Abuja have his back.

    If Mr Bello surmounts the controversy swirling around his real age, and manages to extricate himself from the double registration trap INEC has woven around his neck, he may indeed get the ticket. APC under its staid former national chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, could not absolve itself of blame for enthroning an undeserving and incompetent politician. It remains to be seen whether the current party chairman, the pugnacious Adams Oshiomhole, can withstand the wiles and savagery of Abuja to dethrone Mr Bello. The obstacle is not one of ethics, it is one of courage. Indeed, everyone knows the right thing to do in Kogi. The problem is to find those to do it. It will take a truly herculean effort by Mr Oshiomhole not to disappoint himself and Kogites, for Mr Bello could not conceivably win a free and fair election in a state he has loathsomely brutalised and bastardised.

  • Lagos group supports Bello’s reelection

    THE convener of Igala Lagos Youth Party, Feliz Olame, has thrown his weight behind the re-election bid of the Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello.

    Olame spoke at a press conference in Lagos organised by the group in support of the second term agenda of Bello.

    He said Bello’s giant-stride achievements in the last four years in the education, health, agriculture, infrastructural development and social security sectors have been commendable.

    Read Also: Bello warns against attack on Fed Govt.

    Noting that ethnicity, religion and class were recurring issue in Kogi state before the emergence of the governor, he stated that Bello came with new ideas where everyone in the state can work, live and access government opportunities without any parochial consideration.

    Stating the weakness of Bello, he said it was the non-payment of salaries which he explained was a result of unimaginable number of ghost workers who were receiving salaries from the state, but which the governor has managed to stop. He asserted that those opposing the governor’s reelection are people of the old order who are blind and cannot see the next level programmes of the government and their effects on the people of Kogi State.

  • Bello warns against attack on Fed Govt.

    KOGI State Governor Yahaya Bello has cautioned leaders to desist from inciting the public against the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    He said the President is doing his best and will continue to transform the nation.

    The governor, who stated this during the Eid-Kabir prayer in Okene, Kogi State, advised Nigerian leaders, who have lived their lives and have benefitted immensely, to give peace a chance in the interest of the country.

    “Leaders should stop inciting people against the security agents of the country and the president, as whoever found wanting will certainly face the full wrath of the law.

    Read Also: Poll: Kogi indigenes in Ekiti back Bello

    “The President is doing his best and there is need for Nigerians to give him total support; we are not unaware that there are challenges, but gradually, he will surmount them” the governor assured.

    Bello, who said Kogi State is ranked among the most peaceful states in the country, appealed to politicians, aspirants and their supporters to go about their campaign in a peaceful manner, that will not impede the peaceful coexistent of the people.

  • More troubles in Kogi APC

    All Progressives Congress members and supporters are worried over the deepening crisis in Kogi State chapter of the party barely two months to the November 16, 2019 Governorship Election in the state, reports Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu

    The current face-off between Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, and the Deputy Governor, Simon Achuba, which degenerated during the week with the suspension of the Deputy Governor by the state chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC), has heightened fear over the likely fortunes of the ruling party in the November 16 Governorship Election.

    Observers said the suspension and the commencement of impeachment notice on the embattled Deputy Governor stand as concrete evidence that barely two months before the election; APC, the ruling party, is sorely troubled in the state.

    Even before the quarrel between the governor and the deputy governor became public knowledge, most observers had expressed fear that open resistance of Bello’s aspiration for a second term by his fellow party men and women may weaken the chances of the party to contest the November 16 Governorship Election as a united party.

    About three months before last week and this week’s open political fights, we have reported here that though APC and PDP are the strongest political parties in the Kogi State governorship race, it was observed that supporters of the ruling APC were more worried because of the ongoing internal crisis in the state chapter of the party. We made reference then to the inability of the warring factions in the state to resolve their differences. Some concerned insiders told The Nation then that the disagreement between powerful stakeholders in the state APC seemed to have given the opposition PDP some edge. This was because some powerful forces within the state could no longer hide their desire for an alternative to Bello’s aspiration to get a return APC governorship ticket.

    One such open confrontation came from a group which described itself as the Kogi State Forum of Aspirants. After a well-advertised meeting in Abuja recently the group advised the National Secretariat of APC not to issue the governorship ticket of the party to Governor Yahaya Bello “if APC wants to retain Kogi in the forthcoming governorship election in November.”

    In a two-page communique, which was signed by Mr. Ben Adaji and Mr. Anthony Odana, Chairman and Secretary respectively of the Communiqué-drafting Committee of the group, they said “that the forum unanimously rejects the candidature of Governor Yahaya Bello to run for the second term due to bad leadership and non-performance.”

    They also threatened that giving the governorship ticket to Bello “would be amount to losing Kogi State to the opposition,” adding that at the end of their meeting, “Alhaji Yahaya Audu was unanimously endorsed by the forum to contest the forthcoming governorship election in the state.”

    Only insiders then knew that the matter had become even more complicated. One of the most worrisome factors that have further worsened the crisis within APC in the state since then is the failure of the governor and the deputy governor to manage their hitherto well-guarded icy relationship in the interest of the party. Today, the two are on each other’s throat and it seems the opposition political parties in the state are rejoicing that the ruling party may never be able to contain the implosion.

    BELLO V ACHUBA

    Although the Kogi State Deputy Governor, Elder Simon Achuba, had said repeatedly that he has no plan to contest against Governor Yahaya Bello, political observers said his recent allegation that Bello has sent armed men against him, has, more than any other recent development, exposed the degree of disunity and bad blood within the Kogi State APC.

    The embattled deputy governor shocked observers on Thursday, August 1, 2019, when he told newsmen that Bello has mobilised gunmen to go after him.

    “I want the Police, SSS, IGP to know that if anything should happen to me, my family and aides, the governor should be held responsible,” he said.

    Of course, that stunning press briefing was not the actual beginning of Achuba’s expose on the worsening relationship between him and Bello. In a pre-action notice, Achuba had written a letter to Bello, urging him to pay the accumulated sum of N819, 709, 980 owed to him. According him, the sum is the accumulated statutory allocations due to him, which include travel allowances, hotel bills, pledges, and outstanding monthly impress and salaries. He said these statutory allocations were withheld from his office for the past two years. In the letter, dated July 17, 2019, Achuba had accused Bello of regularly refusing to give approval for the release of funds for the smooth running of his office, the office of the Deputy Governor.

    Achuba did not stop there but warned that his request for the release of the withheld allocations be granted within seven days, failure of which he would be forced to seek redress in the National Industrial Court.

    At that point, it became obvious that the battle line had already been drawn. The Nation gathered then that many APC leaders at the national level, including top officials in the Presidency, like Mr. President’s Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, reached out to seek ways of resolving the matter.

    So when last week’s Wednesday the Kogi State House of Assembly commenced impeachment process against the Deputy Governor, Achuba, every keen observer knew that APC leaders may have failed in the prolonged efforts to resolve the crisis in Kogi State chapter of APC.

    Reports quoted the Kogi State House of Assembly as saying it based its action on the utterances of the deputy governor on Channels TV and AIT, even as members of the House described Achuba’s utterances as a gross misconduct against Bello and the people of the state.”

    The impeachment process began with a petition signed by 21 members of the House which was presented on the floor by the Majority Leader, Abdullahi Bello, representing Ajaokuta State Constituency that Wednesday at the plenary.

    Parts of the petition read, “The actions and utterances of the deputy governor amounts to gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office.”

    The petition also alleged that the committee that the Kogi State Government set up to look into the Iyano crises in the  Ibaji Local Government made some finding that indicted the deputy governor over his actions in relation to the escalation of the crisis.

    “It is our view that the deputy governor is guilty of gross misconduct and he ought to answer to and or substantiate all these allegations.”

    Based on this, the Speaker of the House, Mathew Kolawole, directed that the petition should be transmitted to the deputy governor and gave him two weeks to reply, while investigation into the alleged misconduct commenced.

    As if that was not enough, the state chapter of APC, almost at the same time suspended the deputy governor of the state, Elder Simon Achuba, over alleged anti-party activities before, during and after the 2019 general elections.

    The party said it based the suspension on “some actions the Deputy Governor took that constitute embarrassment to APC family in Kogi state”.

    The Kogi APC chairman, Abdullahi Bello, told reporters in Lokoja that the party received several petitions from stakeholders in Iyano ward, Ibaji Local Government Area, where the Deputy Governor hails from.

    Abdullahi Bello also accused Achuba of “discretely and openly working for candidates of opposition parties during the presidential, national and state assembly elections in the state,” he said, adding that the activities of Achuba during the last elections was against the APC candidates, while he (Achuba) held the exalted position of the Deputy Governor of the state

    According to him, the report of the disciplinary committee constituted by the Iyano ward and Ibaji Local Government Area of APC, to probe the crises in the area, indicted the deputy governor, and also recommended for his suspension to be followed by expulsion, if he did not show any remorse.

    He therefore said that “the Kogi State Working Committee of the APC, having deliberated on the recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee of APC Iyano Ward and Ibaji Local Government branch of the party, resolved and upheld Elder Simon Achuba’s suspension till he responds to the letter that the party would serve him.

    “As we are all aware, the All Progressives Congress does not condone acts of indiscipline, indiscretion and anti-party activities from any party member, no matter how highly placed.

    “His series of reckless, damaging and unsubstantiated allegations against government of Kogi State was an action that constitute a serious violation of Article 21A (ii), (v) and (vii) of the APC constitution, amount, amounting to acts of disloyalty and embarrassment to the party,” Bello said.

    Reacting to the development, Agude Achimi, an APC supporter in Lokoja, told The Nation on Friday that “Kogi APC is in dire need of rescue. Every effort to reconcile the warring factions has failed. To some of us, it seems the party is ready to let go of the state. We are frustrated and ashamed of the strategies currently being employed to resolve the problem. What is happening at the House of Assembly is a shame and a confirmation of the rot we are facing here in Kogi, even as the suspension of the deputy governor by the party leaves so much to be desired. We are worried over the party’s fate in the November 16 Governorship Election,” he said.

    Like Achimi, many observers are today worried and curious to see how the crisis would be resolved eventually.

  • Why Governor Yahaya Bello is at daggers drawn with deputy

    THE outgoing week is one that the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Elder Simon Achuba, would not forget in a hurry. Barely 24 hours after the Kogi State House of Assembly initiated an impeachment move against him, the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC), announced his suspension from the party. In both cases, anti-party activities was cited as the sin of the embattled deputy governor.

    The truth, however, is that there is more to the crisis than was professed by both the Kogi State House of Assembly and APC who seem to have taken it upon themselves to fight Governor Yahaya Bello’s battle with Achuba. Their quarrel, according to Sentry’s findings dates back to 2017 when the state government approved the sum of N500 million for an event in Kabba, the headquarters of Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, which Achuba said was too trivial for the hundreds of millions of naira lavished on it at a time pensioners in the state were dying of hunger.

    Then came the death of former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Buba Jibrin, in March 2018. The then Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Senator Dino Melaye, a political rival of Governor Bello, led a delegation to pay a condolence visit to the constituency and family of the deceased Rep. Since Governor Bello was not available to receive the delegation when they arrived the state capital, the Deputy Governor thought it expedient to receive the Senate President. But his action was said to have irked the governor who felt that his deputy was making friends with his adversaries.

    Governor Bello’s failed bid to recall Senator Melaye from the Senate is also believed to have stoked the fire of discord between the governor and his deputy. Achuba was said to have described as a waste the huge sum expended on the project. He was said to have complained openly that the sum spent on Melaye’s recall should have been used to pay a part of the backlog of salaries owed workers in the state.

    The foregoing coupled with Achuba’s closeness to some members of the opposition party in the state are believed to be responsible for the persecution he has suffered, not only from the governor but also the party and the House of Assembly.

  • Kogi ‘crisis’: Presidency summons Deputy Governor Achuba

    THE Presidency on Friday summoned Kogi Deputy Governor Simon Achuba to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, over the ongoing misunderstanding between him and the Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.

    Achuba had complained that Bello deliberately denied him his accumulated entitlements amounting to N819.7 million, and issued an ultimatum to the state government for the payment of the said amount.

    According to him, the amount comprises travel allowances, hotel bills, outstanding monthly imprest, as well as allowances and salaries.

    The deputy governor, who met with the Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari, behind closed doors, did not reveal details of the deliberation when asked by anxious State House correspondents.

    Read Also: Controversy over shadow poll in Kogi APC

    He, however, revealed that discussions were ongoing to resolve the ‘problems’ between him and the state governor who, he said, was responsible for the stoppage of his allowances for the past two years.

    “Well, it is a private discussion in relation to my office. From my discussions with him, there is hope that all the issues will be resolved. With God, all things are possible,’’ he said.

    On how he has been ‘coping’ as deputy governor without allowances and imprest in the past two years, Achuba said: “Well, you know in life what sustains a man is God. So if your hope is in God, you will be very much alive.

    “If you have money and don’t have God, you will be living like a dead person. But if you have God you can live, He is the one who provides to man.

    “So, if one source closes, God opens another source for you to live. Supposing I was not a Deputy Governor, won’t I be alive?”

    On whether he will support or contest against Gov. Bello, who has since indicated interest in the governorship election slated for November, the deputy governor ruled out the possibility of doing that in spite of what he described as ‘unfair treatment’ being meted against him by his boss.

     

  • I’ve not received allowances for two years, says Kogi deputy gov

    Kogi Deputy Governor Simon Achuba on Friday disclosed that only God has been sustaining him in the past two years without allowances.

    According to him Governor Yahaya Bello has stopped paying him his statutory allowances.

    He spoke with State House correspondents after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    While declining to speak on the outcome of the meeting, he said discussions were ongoing to resolve the issue of his allowances stoppage.

    He had recently lamented that his statutory allocation amounting to N819, 709 980 had been stopped by Governor Bello in the last two years.

    The sum is said to be the accumulated statutory allocations, which include travel allowances, hotel bills, pledges, and outstanding monthly impress and salaries.

    Fielding questions on the outcome of the meeting with the Chief of Staff, he said: “Well it is a private discussion in relation to my office.

    Read Also: Controversy over shadow poll in Kogi APC

    “From my discussions with him there is hope that all the issues will be resolved.”

    Asked whether he has confidence that all the issues will be resolved, he said: “With God all things are possible.”

    On how he has been coping in the last two years as a Deputy Governor without allowances and impress, he said: “Well you know in life what sustains a man is God. So if your hope is in God, you will be very much alive.

    “If you have money and don’t have God, you will be living like a dead person.

    “But if you have God you can live, He is the one who provides to man. So if one source closes, God opens another source for you to live. Supposing I am not a Deputy Governor, won’t I be alive?”

    Also asked why the allowances were stopped, he said that the only excuse given to him was that there was no money.

    On his relationship with the governor, he said: “For now it is not very smooth, it is not what it is supposed to be and it is not supposed to be like that.”

    Also answering question on whether he will support governor Bello in the forthcoming governorship election in the state, he said: “When the time comes. There are issues to be put on table for discussion and these are the issues why I am here.

    “When those issues are settled you will see us flying again, politics is like that.”

    He however ruled out the possibility of contesting against his boss.

    “No, I am not contesting. I won’t contest against him for whatever reason,” adding that crisis is resolved he will work with Bello.

    “If they are resolved, why not? Everybody has interest and if the interests are taken care of, why not.”

  • Why Yahaya Bello is not performing, by Abubakar Audu’s son

    A Kogi State governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Mustapha Mona Audu, has said that Governor Yahaya Bello has failed to provide democrat dividends to the people because he was not voted for.

    Audu also said Bello was not representing youths because he has misused the opportunity of representing them.

    He added that returning the governor to power would amount to mortgaging the political future of the Nigerian youths.

    The younger Audu told The Nation in an interview in Abuja that since the governor came into office by an act of providence, he never understood what the mandate he held meant.

    The aspirant said Bello had misused his opportunity and should therefore be replaced.

    He said: “Yes, the current governor is a young man, but he is not our representative. No one said men cannot rule. It is unfair to say he is a representative of the youth because no young person selected him as our representative. No Kogite voted for him. There is no single Kogite alive or dead that voted for the current governor.

    Read Also: Yahaya Bello picks kogi nomination form

    “The governor accidentally, through an act of God, made it there. Unfortunately, because he did not understand what was needed to get there and was not part of the people who brought this victory, he misused the opportunity.

    “He got rid of all the people that worked for it. In life, there is a simple rule. If you don’t work for something, you don’t know the value of it. This is exactly what happened. He didn’t work for it and so, he does not understand the value.

    “Now, the young had gathered together and picked one person and we know that Kogi State is our last chance. If you don’t get it right in Kogi State, the door will forever be shut against us because they are going to use Kogi State as an example of why young people shouldn’t be in leadership. If you talk about young people in government, people will tell you, look at Kogi State.

    “Something as basic as salaries, he has not paid for over 40 months. But this is not a consequence of being young, but the function of somebody who is not prepared for leadership and we are ready to change him. We are going to change him very soon.”

    He said he was not worried about whatever mode of primary the party decides to adopt for the governorship primary as he was confident of emerging winner considering the level of work has put into his campaign.

    Audu, however, said he was adopting a different approach to his campaign for the governorship ticket by going directly to the people in the villages, adding that he was against the idea of giving money to delegates to vote for you, adding that he was appealing to the heart of the people.

    The APC aspirant, who said he would support any effort at rotating the governorship ticket in the state, however, said he will not support any legislation to that effect as there are better ways of achieving that without necessarily going through legislation.

    He added that the idea of rotating the governorship seat in the state was first muted by Kogi elders from the western senatorial district and agreed to by his late father in 1991, but it could not be actualised as a result of the intervention of the military as well as the coming of the PDP that truncated his  father’s second term bid.

  • Before Yahaya Bello takes Kogi into the abyss

    If President Muhammadu Buhari had not put his foot down firmly in favour of your candidacy as chairman, what we know today as the All Progressive Congress could have collapsed because progressive-minded individuals in the country knew that the former chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun was virtually held hostage by the all-powerful governors in the party. Some, like Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, had completely pocketed him. Anybody who wants to contradict the above assertion will need to answer the question: What became of Tony Momoh’s report on why the APC has been fractionized in Kogi State?

    Comrade, you will recall that the loss of Imo State to the opposition party was as a result of sheer arrogance, impunity and imperial bearing of the immediate past governor, Rochas Okorocha whose comportment and bearing during the last election seemed to say “I am Imo State”. Compare that with what happened in Amosun’s Ogun State where an individual dared the whole party machinery because his preferred candidate was not the choice of APC as a party in the state? Then, add Ondo State where an APC sitting governor, Rotimi Akeredolu consistently worked against the interest of his own party because of his alleged face-off with Senator Boroffice-a Senator from his own party! Two important senatorial seats were lost to the opposition in the process. And finally, one of the bitterest of the losses: that of Oyo State – a key progressive state- where ex-Governor Ajimobi created many enemies for the party.

    My dear Comrade Oshiomhole, I have decided to refresh your memory with the above instances to show that when individuals try to pursue their own narrow, personal and selfish agenda to the detriment of the over-all party interest, the only result is political disaster of the painful kind as witnessed above. Those who fail to learn from history are bound to repeat the mistakes of history as the saying goes.

    Now, how do we ensure that what happened in the past is prevented from repeating themselves in the future? Party discipline is the answer. Just as President Buhari put his foot down firmly in favour of your candidacy and honest Nigerians are happy with your principled but firm handling of the party affairs, so must you put down your foot firmly in favour of party discipline and call the bluff of over-ambitious, selfish and arrogant governors bent on having their ways at all costs.

    Here, I want to bring to your attention the shenanigans taking place in my own Kogi State where a certain Yahaya Bello holds sway as an imperial governor. When he swept into power in 2016, the first thing he did was to ensure that the APC party structure he met and which made it possible for him to enter the Lugard House (under Hadi Ametuo) was shoved aside to make way for his own cronies. Every attempt made by the authentic chairman of the party-Ametuo, was roundly frustrated by Yahaya Bello and his Abuja cronies at whose disposal Bello readily committed the resources of the state as gratification. He would not mind using the whole monthly allocation to have his own selfish wish actualised.

    It is after Bello has collected about four allocations from the federation account that he would pay just one emolument for workers and pensioners in the state. This writer stands to be contradicted on this issue. In fact, if you are planting corn now during the rainy season, it is far more dependable and trustworthy to expect your harvest in the next three or four months’ time-depending on the clemency of the weather and the variety of the corn, than to expect Yahaya Bello to pay one month entitlement to workers and pensioners of Kogi State. It is as bad as that. And that is why workers and pensioners drop dead every now and then and some even commit suicide in utter despair and hopelessness. And that is why too, that casket makers in the state recently endorsed Bello for a second term because business is booming for them.

    My dear Comrade, concerning the governorship election slated for November 16, another macabre drama is unfolding in the state –especially at the state capital, Lokoja. Yahaya Bello has corralled our respected traditional rulers – (some against their will) through intimidation and, in some cases, open bribery to endorse his second term bid. Already, a motley crowd of soul-less individuals, political jobbers and assortments of misfits who have been thoroughly compromised by Bello are now singing Bello’s tune despite the irreparable damage this utter misfit has done to the state.

    Dear comrade, be it known to you that Kogi State will die a painful death if Bello is allowed back in the Lugard House for the next four years. This writer joins his voice with those of good people of Kogi State and other well-meaning Nigerians in imploring you and your National Working Committee to frustrate Bello in this mad gamble of his by denying him the APC ticket for the governorship election. This will make it impossible for him to deliver the final death blow on the already prostrate party under him. We know your principled stand and your forthrightness. Kogi is in a desperate situation. You need stout-hearted people like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Hajiya Salamatu Bewah to assist in foiling Bello’s mad bid for Lugard House. The cabal that ensured Bello being foisted on Kogi People in 2015 should not be allowed to have its way this time around.

    Dear Comrade, come to Kogi State and see for yourself the utter helplessness and despair written on the faces of every Kogian. Bello has not commissioned any project since his inauguration in 2016. Almost half of the work force and pensioners have not got anything by way of their emolument for several months – due to unending screening exercises. A kind of satanic revenue drive is ongoing – making the yoke on Kogi people unbearable. Bello has introduced thuggery and political violence into Kogi State, a phenomenon that former governor, Idris Wada completely wiped out from the state. Murders and kidnappings are the daily menu from which Kogi people are served. This is the governor who regards the monthly allocation from Abuja as his personal pocket money. This is the governor who has made Kogi State a fiefdom of his side-kick, Chief of Staff, Edward David Onoja!

    And finally Comrade Sir, if you feel this writer has exaggerated Bello’s misdoings in Kogi State, I will recommend a book written by Yahaya Bello’s kinsman, an Ebira by name Sumaila I. Ohiare. The title of the book is “The Trouble with Kogi State”: A case study in the use of power by Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.

    • Lee writes from Lokoja, Kogi State.

  • Challenges facing INEC ahead of Kogi, Bayelsa polls

    Bayelsa and Kogi states are warming up for governorship elections on November 16. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI looks at the challenges that may afftect the conduct of hitch-free elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

    THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the leadership of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has turned full circle, with November’s governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States. Yakubu’s emergence as INEC Chairman coincided with the inconclusive elections witnessed in the two states four years ago.

    The commission faces another crucial test with the conduct of the governorship elections in the North-central and the South-south states, on November 16, 2019. The off-cycle elections in the two states provide opportunities for the commission to perfect its systems and processes and convince Nigerians that it has learnt some useful lessons from its past mistakes.

    Kogi and Bayelsa are among the seven states where the governorship elections hold on different dates from the other states. It will be the first time that two off-cycle elections would be holding on the same date. Four years ago, the Kogi election was held on November 21, 2015, while that of Bayelsa took place on December 5, 2015. But, the governors will be sworn in on different dates: Kogi on January 26, 2020 and Bayelsa on February 13, 2020.

    In Kogi State, Governor Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) seeking re-election for a second term, while Bayelsa Governor Seriake Dickson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would be completing a second term in February next year.

    Being the first major elections to be conducted since the 2019 general elections, the commission, observers said, must address the plethora of infractions that have cropped up at the various election tribunals on whether the card readers have helped to plug the loopholes for inflation of ballots.

    Ahead of the elections, the nomination of candidates by the parties must be done within the stipulated time and in compliance with the Electoral Act. Yakubu’s words: “The conduct of primaries and nomination of candidates must be transparent and democratic in accordance with the provisions of Section 87 of the Electoral Act as well as our regulations and guidelines.”

    The INEC Chairman said so far only three political parties have given notices indicating the dates for their primaries for both Bayelsa and Kogi governorship elections. He added: “The commission once again reminds party leaders to do the needful. In doing so, you should indicate not only the dates but also venues and time for the primaries.

    “I urge you to avoid persistent rescheduling of your primaries or late minute change of venue which sometimes disenfranchise your members and make effective monitoring by the commission difficult. Where political parties opt for direct primaries, there should be proper register of members otherwise it will amount to conducting an election without the voters’ register.”

    In Kogi State, particularly, the ruling APC is undecided about the mode of primary it is going to adopt to choose its flag bearer for the election. The national leadership of the party, it is gathered, is under pressure from the Presidency to reverse the indirect primary already ordered for the August 29. It was learnt that the party’s top hierarchy were already reviewing the decision in the overall best interest of the party.

    The issue is believed to have generated tension among members of the National Working Committee who met in Abuja recently. The meeting, which took place at its national secretariat, was presided over by the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole. The meeting started a few hours after Governor Bello came to pick his Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms.

    The party had adopted an indirect mode of primary for Kogi State, but kept mute on the Bayelsa State governorship primary fixed for the same day. But, about 20 APC governorship aspirants have protested against the decision, saying it would affect the fortunes of the party. They demanded direct primary instead and for a caretaker committee to be raised due to litigation over the State Working Committee.

    Fears have been expressed in some quarters that the infighting over the primary could cost the party the governorship seat, as it happened in Zamfara and Rivers States during the last general elections.

    The issue of security is another major challenge that would confront the commission during the conduct of the two governorship elections. This is not only true of Bayelsa, where militancy and violence has often been mixed with politics, but also of Kogi State, where reports during the last general elections painted a picture of violence and lack of enabling environment for expression of voter preferences.

    A security expert, Dr. Joseph Ameh, said what Kogi people expect from President Muhammadu Buhari is for him to rein in security agencies and ensure that they are not at the beck and call of the ruling APC. Ameh said if security officials do their work with patriotism and in an unbiased way, politicians, especially gladiators would reckon that it is no longer business as usual. He said Nigerian voters have become wiser and know how to discipline selfish and arrogant leaders.

    While recalling how, during the recent general elections, violence, intimidation and use of weapons to scare voters away became the order of the day, Ameh said if as many as six persons lost their lives in Kogi East Senatorial District, it could only be imagined what would happen during the governorship.

    He said: “I am calling on President Buhari to ensure that there would be no gun-running and miltarisation during the November 16 governorship election. It is everybody’s concern, but we believe that the Federal Government would not be insensitive to the issues of security in Kogi State.

    “Some of the things that happened during the last election may not be known to the Federal Government, but if the government was in the know, it would be a great blow to the integrity, transparency and even the anti-corruption war President Buhari said he is waging.

    “It would be clear to everybody that the Buhari government is corrupt if the Kogi governorship election is allowed to be militarised; that is, if thugs are allowed to kill and maim during the November 16 governorship poll. We shall hold the Federal Government responsible to ensure that proper things are done.”

    Other challenges INEC would confront in Kogi and Bayelsa include that of logistics and manpower, vote-buying, voter apathy and mobilization. For instance, one area INEC should demonstrate its capacity to learn from its mistakes is in the use of ad hoc staff. Recently a former chairman of the commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, accused politicians of using university lecturers, who served as INEC’s ad hoc staff, to rig elections. Part of the allegation is that INEC officials collude with politicians to swap trained ad hoc staff.

    Read Also: Breaking: Buhari plays video on INEC’s stand on results transmission

    Already, INEC has commenced the review of the recruitment, training and deployment of ad-hoc staff ahead of the elections. Prof. Yakubu said reforms in the delegation of responsibilities by the commission to the ad-hoc election personnel has remained an exercise it will continue to review from one election to another. The INEC Chairman added that recruitment, training and deployment of ad-hoc staff, mostly members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), students of tertiary institutions and university lecturers are crucial to a successful free, fair and credible election. He said with the large population of Nigeria, INEC needed the services of ad-hoc election personnel in the conduct of credible elections.

    In recent times, vote-buying has become common in Nigerian elections and there is no reason to believe that Kogi and Bayelsa would be exceptions. Though the Electoral Act criminalizes vote-buying, because it is completely antithetical to the ethos and norms of democracy, it has become a common feature of party primaries and general elections conducted in recent years.

    Similarly, the 2018 Revised Code of Conduct for Political Parties also enjoins all political parties and their agents shall not engage in buying of votes or offer any bribe, gift, reward, gratification or any other monetary or material considerations or allurement to voters and electoral officials. Notwithstanding its prohibition, vote-buying continues to be a widespread practice in recent elections.

    There is also the issue of distributing uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) by INEC. National Commissioner, Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, indicated recently that the commission will resume distribution of uncollected PVCs in Bayelsa and Kogi, ahead of the November 16 governorship elections. Okoye said that the commission would soon meet to decide on whether to hold Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the two states before the elections.

    He said: “In the next one month the commission will take a decision on whether to conduct CVR for these two states, just before the elections. So, that particular decision has not been taken. Definitely the commission will take that decision. But what is certain is that we are going to distribute the uncollected PVCs in Kogi and Bayelsa before the conduct of governorship elections in the two states.”

    There are 186,798 unclaimed PVCs in Bayelsa out of the 923,182 registered voters, while 269,000 out of 1.6 million registered voters in Kogi are yet to collect their PVCs.

    Elections in this clime have always been characterized with low turnout of voters. For instance, out of the more than 84 million voters registered to take part in the last presidential and National Assembly elections, only 35 per cent of that number participated. This could be traced to lack of adequate mobilization, threat of violence or the cumbersome nature of Nigerian elections, where an intending voter must be ready to sacrifice several hours just to exercise his or her franchise.

    In a nutshell, everything boils down to the fact that people do not have confidence in the capacity of INEC to organize free and fair elections. For example, in the words of political commentator, Dolapo Akinbolagbe, one of the popular rhetoric’s that is pervasive is the idea that one’s vote doesn’t count. He added: “There is this assumption (whether accurate or not it is debatable) that the corrupt nature of the political process has led to issues like electoral malpractices.

    “One side-effect of voter apathy can be low voter turnout on election day if voting is non-compulsory. In countries or areas with compulsory elections, voter apathy may manifest itself in the form of a high proportion of spoilt ballots or ‘donkey’ votes.

    “The issue of voter’s apathy became a heated topic during the 2019 presidential and governorship election. As we saw, the election postponement created a form of voter fatigue as it caused an anti-climax amongst those wanting to perform their civic duty. The anticipation was cut short as news of the election postponement came six hours before polling units opened. This was highly unfortunate for many that had to travel long distances in order to vote.”

    All told, as the country heads towards Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections in November, the commission said it will address all the identified challenges and lapses in the 2019 general elections and consolidate on the successes recorded to ensure it delivers credible, free and fair election in Kogi and Bayelsa come November 16.

    Malam Mohammed Haruna, the National Commissioner in charge of Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa states, who gave the assurance recently, identified logistics as one of the major challenges that confronted the last general elections. He said the large number of registered political parties that took part in the last election made the entire process cumbersome for the commission.