Kogi guber poll: APC’s Ododo is better by far -Rt Hon Abdullahi Bello
*Photo: Rt Hon Bello*
Rt Hon Abdullahi Bello, a former Acting Governor of Kogi State and former Speaker Kogi State House of Assembly in this interview with The Shield Online bares his mind on forthcoming November gubernatorial election in the state.
Excerpts:
Q: How do you rate the chances of your party, APC in the coming Nov Gubernatorial election in Kogi State?
Rt Hon Abdullahi Bello: I am confident of our victory without any iota of doubt.
My party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has done well in terms of holding the State together, united and in peace.
There are so many great achievements cutting across the three Senatorial Districts that the current Governor has put in place that will enhance our chances towards attaining total victory in November.
And these are in the areas of infrastructures, education, health and rural development among others. Salaries have been paid as at when due. What the government did in the area of staff salaries is novel, that is, instead of retrenchment, the government decided to pay what is available to cover all civil servants instead of a few. And thus retrenchment was avoided in the last 7 years of Yahaya Bello’s administration. And our gubernatorial candidate in the November election, Alhaji Usman Ododo will do better. He has learned governance and it’s critical ethics and demands.
Q: But some critics says your party is too weak and divided and that it will not be victorious in the November election. They cited that, other party flag bearers like Murtala Ajaka , Dino Melaye and others the APC to pursue their ambition, and that most founding members of the party like you and many others are not seen or involved in the ongoing campaign. What is your take on this?
Rt Hon Abdullahi Bello: The pathway to our victory is clear. We will win conveniently in the November election in Kogi State by the grace of God. I will not reveal the strategic pact, but these individuals whom you mentioned that left our party to pursue their ambition in other parties is a good source of strength for us in APC. That is what I will say on that for now. And not seeing someone like me around the candidate doesn’t mean that I am not supporting my party and our candidate.
Alh Usman Ododo, our gubernatorial candidate is chosen from the heart of my traditional political base. We have perfected plans of how we will deliver him in November. Just wait and see by November how the results will be. I can assure you that Ododo is better by far among all the contenders and in-shaa Allah, on 27th January 2024, he will be sworn to office as the next Governor of Kogi State, taking over from the white lion ( Governor Yahaya Bello). Kogi’s fortune will increase under Ododo, there will be more peace, inclusivity and progress with development. The purpose of good governance have been learned and this will manifest with Ododo’s administration.
All other foundation members of APC are ready and committed towards the party’s victory.
That you don’t see us walking the streets with our teeming supporters and foot soldiers doesn’t mean that we are against our party.
No. We support our party APC with all our political goodwill and strength. Someone like me being a Former Honorable Speaker, and by the provisions of Article 12.6 of our party Constitution, I am a Member of the North-Central Zonal Executive Committee of the party, and by implications an automatic Member of the National Gubernatorial Campaign Council for Kogi State. We’re working hard for our party victory in the coming elections in November.
Q: Some people have accused Governor Yahaya Bello of ethnic bigotry for abandoning his Deputy, and by ensuring the emergence of Ododo, whom they also alleged that they are cousins and from the same Ward. Are these true and if yes, how do you think that this will not affect your party’s chances of victory?
Rt Hon Abdullahi Bello: Let me start by stating that not all these claims are true.
Yes, we cannot deny that Ododo is a Nigerian from Kogi and an Ebira like Gov Yahaya Bello, we cannot also deny that both are from Okene, but they’re not cousins or from the same Ward. And more importantly is that he, Ododo satisfied the requirements of the law for this position.
Let me take you on the memory lane. I will leave the period of His Excellency, Prince Abubakar Audu’s era out of what I’m about to say here.
The next Governor after Prince Audu was His Excellency, Alh Ibrahim Idris, and his Deputy for more than 8yrs in office was our respected son, Chief Phillips Salawu.
Gov Ibrahim Idris failed the State by bringing an unknown Captain Wada from his ethnic group and a close friend of his to take the rein of authority and governance.
And in-between these two gentle men, I was sworn into office as the Acting Governor of my State, Kogi. That was on Friday the 27th of January 2012, the day the Supreme Court sacked 5 sitting Governors in Nigeria. That day it was like the world has come to an end, that an Ebira will sit on the seat of government in the Luggard house.
It was like a taboo. Do you know that as the court judgment became public that Gov Ibro failed to invite me for briefing even when he knew that I was the person to be sworn as Acting Governor, and I will then properly prepare the swearing ceremony of Capt Idris Wada?
Gov Ibrahim Idris abandoned this legal path and decided to swear in Capt Wada thereby nearly throwing our State into an otherwise avoidable crisis. I took over properly as sworn by the Chief Judge, the person recognized by the 1999 Constitution to perform such duty, and I addressed the State and ensured peace.
Gov Ibro found it difficult to see any non-Igala on the seat of government after him or at the end of his tenure.
People should not easily forget this very nauseating episode of our political history.
They dragged me to the Villa in Abuja as the Acting Governor and impressed upon me to revert back to my post of Speaker.
The Vice President, Namadi Sambo who was the Acting President at the time because President Goodluck traveled outside the Country, specifically appealled to me to return to Kogi and hand over back to Capt Idris Wada.
If Governor Idris found nothing good about me serving as Acting Governor for few days and also didn’t consider Chief Phillips Salawu worthy to take over from him, to me Governor Yahaya Bello merely followed the precedence and the standard in this regard as set by those who came before him. And Chief Olafemi who as the Speaker and Acting Governor of Kogi State supervised a re-run and returned Governor Ibrahim Idris back to office successfully as an Okun man was not fit to take over after Gov Ibro ended his tenure, neither was his Ebira Deputy was fit enough to occupy the seat of Governor.
There is this story that most people didn’t know about how miraculously Chief Olafemi became the Acting Governor in the first place.
He was forced to resign his position of Speaker so that his Deputy, an Igala can take over and later that day be sworn in as Acting Governor. Luckily Chief Olafemi forgot his resignation letter at home and by the time he arrived the Assembly complex, the Supreme Court had delivered it’s judgment and in the eyes of the law he was the Speaker when this judgment became known officially and he couldn’t read his resignation letter. This was how Chief Olafemi became Acting Governor in Kogi State. The man is alive, you can verify this from him!
So who laid the ethnic foundation in Kogi’s politics, Gov Yahaya Bello or those before him?
I am of the strongest opinion that Governor Yahaya Bello has done excellently well in terms of ethnic balancing.
Q: Your final take?
Rt Hon Abdullahi Bello: My appeal is for all Kogi citizens to conduct themselves peacefully as we go through this election season. We are one people under Allah who created us. We are one citizen under the constitution of our nation, and we are one in Kogi State. Therefore let’s approach the election with maximum caution, and thus minimize conflict.
Whom God has choosen is known to Him, and we shouldn’t kill and maim ourselves for what is divine and has been decided by Allah Almighty.
What will be will be. Usman Ododo will take over from Gov Yahaya Bello in-shaa Allah.
And let’s consolidate on a renewed hope of good governance that the combination of Usman Ododo and that of President Bola Tinubu’s era will usher unto us in Kogi State and Nigeria.
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