It’s no more news that all is not well in the Kogi APC camp. The ruling party has been in the helms of affairs of the state for 8 years now. And obviously many have more negative things to say. Some people evem tagged ot, the worst government the people of Kogi have ever experienced. As the new election is drawing closer, come November 2023, for the new governor of the state. The ruling party has been experiencing more challenges, thereby giving the opposition party more strength.
The whole crisis in the party started when the sitting Governor Yahaya Bello imposed his cousin as APC candidate during the primaries. According to Senator Smart Adeyemi, the APC Gubernatorial candidate “Ododo” who was said to have won the primaries is a cousin to Yahaya Bello, and there was no election, if we allow this to go on, a time will come when the Governor will impose his son on the state. This is the worst from of nepotism”.
As it is, there’s already a decision among APC stakeholders, and this is definitely going to affect the general election. It was revealed that the Governor initially annointed the accountant general of the state as his successor and many of the party members supported his decision, because to them Alhaji Jubril (the Accountant General of The State) possess all the qualities and due to this, a good number of credible candidate stepped down for the Accountant General, to win the ticket. But it came as a rude shock to many, when the governor had a change of mind few days before the primaries and supported his cousin Ahmed Usman Ododo over other candidates. He emerged the winner, and this didn’t go down well with others, thereby bringing division into the APC camp. The decision didn’t go down well with many of Yahaya Bello’s loyalist, as some already pitched tent with opposition party.
It was revealed that his imposition of unpopular candidates will make the party lose all elective seats in the state to opposition parties. The situation is so bad that party key members are already pleading with the national leader to compel the Governor to allow the most popular candidate, who will be selected by majority of the party member and delegates to emerge as flagbearer.
Recall, that the people of Igala land went against their own son Musa Wada, with the hope that the Governor would at least return power to the Igala people in 2023, but he did the opposite. One would have thought that the Governor would allow a fair and transparent process for the primaries. But instead he annointed his preferred successor while those who dare to question him are intimidated. He decided who gets every political position in thestate, ever since he emerged the governor of the State.
The Governor’s rift with the His Royal Majesty, the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland is also another factor. The Ohinoyi of Ebiraland Ado Ibrahim is one of the most highly respected king in Nigeria, and the Ebira people holds that throne very sacred, they practically worship him, and holds him in high esteem.
Many will not forget the significant role he played to make sure Yahya Bello emerged Governor of Kogi which happenes to be one of his heart desires before leaving the throne, and he worked tiredlessly to make sure this came to pass.
The Ebira people are predominantly Muslims, and he made sure, he preached to them during prayers at the mosque, for Jumat, and some special gathering, on the reasons, why they need to support Yahaya Bello, and how he is going to transform the state, the indigenes listened to him and supported the son of the soil. Unfortunately, there have been rift between them. The King was even publicly queried and threatened with punishment for ignoring a state event where the former President Buhari visited the state.
Many indigene didn’t like his attitudes towards the traditional rulers most especially the Ohinoyi of Ebira land. The governor’s constant battle with the strongest female politician in Kogi Natasha Akpothi, and the issue that played out at the senatorial election, also painted the image of the governor in a very negative way that many don’t like, the way the governor vandalised taired roads leading to the stronghold of PDP Kogi East senatorial candidate Natasha Akpothi Uduaghan, in order to stop her chances of victory.
The economic situation of the state under Yahaya Bello’s administration. Kogi State is a Civil Servant state and unfortunately salaries are paid in percentage for Civil Servants in the State, leaving workers feeding from hands to mouths.
It has also given rise to financial pressure and increase in rural-urban migration. Many die almost on daily basis due to non payment of salaries issues in Kogi, and this has affected basically everything in the state. The Governor’s battle with Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which has led to the forfeitures of 14 of his properties, the properties including “Hotel Apartment Community, Buy Khalifa lying being and situate at plot 160 Municipality, Property No 40, Floor 4, Bubai UAE was said to have bought from unlawful activity.
During his tenure, a lot of Investors have fled the state. Just recently BUA group, one fo the wealthiest companies in Nigeria said, it would no longer be investing in Kogi State because there had been no visible effort by the state and successive government to address the issues of access to the land. These companies have employed many youths of the state, and all these Youths will become jobless, most especially in a Civil Servants State with no employments opportunities. As if the hardship was not enough the closure of Dangote Cement have also scared off many intending investors. All these and more will be, what the opposition parties will work on, and the people will be more than ready to listen to and have a better life, compared to the hard life they are going through.
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