2 APC chieftains explain what happened in the Kogi governorship election
By Tunde Opalana
Two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the weekend said governments of the United States of America, United Kingdom and European Union were misled to believe that Governor Yahaya Bello and leaders of the party committed electoral offences to rig the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Kogi state.
The Daily Times recalled that the United States and the UK placed visa and diplomatic restrictions on persons identified to have been involved in malpractices during the last Kogi governorship poll, to which Governor Bello reacted.
Senator Smart Adeyemi representing Kogi West senatorial district and Kogi state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo said contrary to insinuations that Yahaya Bello won the last year’s governorship election in Kogi state through violence and other infractions, the governor actually won his second term slot in a free, fair and credible poll.
They both attributed Bello’s victory to unprecedented achievements recorded in his first term in office while speaking in Lokoja on Saturday at the retreat of the Senate Press Corps themed “Democracy and Development in a Federation: Roles of Media, States and Parliaments”.
Sen. Adeyemi blamed a section of the media and most especially unethical social media influencers for reporting fake stories and uploading untrue pictures about the election.
According to the lawmaker, “these untrue stories about the election which pervaded both conventional and social media then informed the judgement of the international community and consequently the travel ban placed on some Nigerians”.
He said the APC flag bearer was rewarded by Kogi electorate with massive votes because of his performance in office.
Adeyemi said the governor was able to douse political tensions occasioned by ethnic, language and religious configuration of the state, reduced to the barest level, crime rate and tolerate dissent opinions and criticism of his government.
He praised the governor for even distribution of developmental projects and infrastructure across the three senatorial districts.
Speaking earlier while delivering a paper titled ‘Kogi’s 29 years of statehood and Yahaya Bello’s new direction’, Fanwo said the governor had already won the heart of an average Kogi citizen through his many achievements.
Like Sen. Adeyemi, the commissioner said Gov. Bello has united the many ethnic groups in the state and concentrated on development without ethnic or religious biases.
He said “the history of Kogi state has been that of division and bastardization caused by directionless politicians. Campaign slogans have been structured along ethnic division and the state suffered for it. But Gov Bello has looked at development without ethnocentric or religious views”.
According to him, before Bello’s advent in power, the state recorded an average of 25 kidnap cases a month and Kogi became headquarters for kidnappers but the governor has made Kogi a safe haven.
The governor, he said, procured 200 patrol vehicles with communication gadgets fitted for security agencies and 500 motorcycles for inter-land patrol of the newly employed 5000 vigilante officers.
The commissioner reeled out Bello’s achievements in the area of sustainable food and crop production and agricultural development, healthcare and reformation of the state civil service.
At the event held at the Banquet Hall of the Kogi state Government House was the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, represented by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru while the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello was represented by his deputy, Chief Edward Onoja.
The duo of Senators Smart Adeyemi and Yakubu Oseni (Kogi West and Kogi Central respectively), also attended the event and presented their goodwill messages.
The Kogi State Deputy Governor, Edward Onoja, while reading the text of the speech of Governor Yahaya Bello, enumerated the achievements of the New Direction administration of Governor Yahaya Adoza Bello, in the areas of security, peaceful co-existence of various ethnic groups and infrastructural development.
The Senate spokesperson, Basiru, in his paper, “Governance: How watchful are the watchdogs in ensuring Accountability and Transparency in Nigeria” challenged the media practitioners to shun corruption and sensationalism and embrace investigative reporting with a view to putting the executive on their toes and save the profession.
The retreat was made possible with the support of the Senate leadership and the Kogi State Government which provided the necessary funding and logistics to ensure the success of the event.
The Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kingsley Fanwo, led members of the Senate Press Corps, on arrival in Lokoja, on Friday, October 2, to inspect some landmark projects executed by the New Direction Administration in the state.
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