The many (mis)adventures of Gov. Yahaya Bello

Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, assumed duty on January 27, 2016 under circumstances many have described as “miraculous and divine.” However, rather than enjoy the “goodies” that come with executive powers, Bello’s case is that of tumbling on on

Yahaya Bello’s emergence as governor followed the sudden death of Prince Abubakar Audu, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the November 21, 2015 gubernatorial election. Audu had polled 240,867 votes to have an edge over his opponent, the then Governor Idris Wada, who trailed behind with 199,514. Audu died shortly before the declaration of results.

Before then, Audu had slugged it out with no fewer than 28 aspirants who were all looking for the APC ticket.

During the governorship election proper, the INEC’s state Returning Officer, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha, declared the election inconclusive on grounds of the margin of win between Audu and Wada.

In the ensuing political logjam, INEC fixed a supplementary election for December 5, 2015 and subsequently asked the APC to get a replacement for its late candidate.

Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who came second in the primaries, was eventually fielded in the supplementary election and emerged winner at the end of the day, amidst protests from Mr James Faleke, the deputy governorship candidate to the late Audu.

At the end of the day, Bello won at the court, putting the rest the fierce battle put forward by Faleke.

But after about 16 months in power, Governor Bello has continued to face one form of travail or the other from friends, foes, party/executive members, organised labour and other stakeholders from within and outside the state. On assumption of power, Bello could hardly enjoy the needed reception and support of the APC executive in the state in view of the circumstances of his emergence. The reason for the cold reception, pundits noted, was largely due to the concerns that a good number of the state APC party executive and other stakeholders who worked vigorously for the victory of the late Audu felt shortchanged by the choice of Bello as replacement. Besides, the whole problem seemed to have been compounded by the alleged failure on the part of Bello to bring all the polarized groups within the party together as one house, after the Supreme Court verdict that favoured him instead of Faleke. He did not carry those that mattered along in the scheme of things, some of the aggrieved APC members said.

The party executive had in April, 2016, passed a vote of no confidence on the governor, accusing him of appointing nonAPC members into his cabinet while sidelining those that worked for the victory of the party.

The internal wrangling between Bello and the APC festered and took another dimension when the party’s stakeholders from the state held a press conference in Abuja on January 27 where they passed another “Vote of no confidence” on him.

The party, aside passing a no confidence vote, also issued a four-week ultimatum to the governor to reconcile the staff audit in the state and pay workers.

Beside the disagreement between Bello and some of his party executive members and stalwarts, he has also been at loggerheads with civil servants and various labour unions in the state following the negative impact the screening exercise he carried out has had on workers.

The prolonged screening exercise embarked upon by the government is said to have caused untold hardships and pains to many workers, with some being owed about 12 months salaries while a number of others who were found to be “ghost workers and unintended beneficiaries,” were thrown out of jobs.

In the past four months, workers in all APC’s the state-owned tertiary institutions have been on strike over demands bordering on non- payment of salaries and alleged declaration of some genuine workers as ghost workers/unintended beneficiaries.

In the same vein, doctors in the state under the auspices of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) embarked on an industrial action on May 3 over unpaid salaries and other grouses, but put the action on hold following the intervention of some prominent personalities in the state, including the Attah Igala, Dr Michael Ameh Oboni II.

Recently, what looked like a proxy war ensued between the governor and his friend-turned-foe, Senator Dino Melaye, over an alleged assassination attempt on the life of Dino, reportedly masterminded by the Administrator of Ijumu Local Government Area, Taufiq Isah.

Dino, who was reportedly attacked by unknown gunmen in his country home at Aiyetoro Gbede in Ijumu LGA on April 16, had accused the governor of having hands in the incident.

He claimed that he was attacked because he spoke against the non- payment of workers and pensioners in the state.

But the governor denied having any hand in the attack, saying there was no “running battle” between him and Senator Melaye as alleged.

Bello, speaking through his Director General on Media and Strategy, Kingsley Fanwo, said he had been working closely with people who are not “averse to the progress of the state,” maintaining that his administration would be undaunted by the “recklessness in certain quarters to create a fiction of war.”

While the dust raised in the state over the alleged assassination attempt on Dino was settling down, the governor was again in the eyes of the storm following the recent revelation emanating from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that he registered twice for the permanent voter card (PVC) in violation of the Electoral Act.

The electoral umpire had in a statement issued in Abuja by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Voter Education and Information Committee, Prince Solomon Adedeji Soyebi, that Mr. Bello acted “illegally” to have registered for voter’s cards in Abuja and Kogi.

INEC, however, said it could not take action against the governor because he was constitutionally protected from prosecution while in office, according to provisions of Section 308 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

Mr. Soyebi confirmed that Governor Bello was first registered at Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, on January 30, 2011 but illegally did so again on May 23, during the continuous voters registration exercise in his office in Lokoja, Kogi State.

“The governor’s double registration and doing so outside INEC’s designated centres are both illegal,” Soyebi said.

According to the statement, the commission did not authorise any staff or citizen to “re-register him (the governor) or any citizen or to do so outside our designated CVR centres”, adding that disciplinary action would be taken against the INEC staff involved in the exercise.

Meanwhile, the latest development has been generating ripples and reactions from across stakeholders in the state, with some calling on the governor to resign.

Some APC leaders from the state led by Senator Dino Melaye described the development as an embarrassment to the party and urged the governor to resign or they would mobilise members of the state assembly to impeach him.

On his part, the spokesman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Mr Bode Ogunmola, accused INEC of double standards and urged the commission to ensure the matter is not “swept under the carpet.”

But the Director General Media and Publicity to the Governor, Kingsley Fanwo, described those calling for the resignation of Bello over the INEC registration saga as political jokers, saying the matter was overblown by opponents to score political goals.

“Resignation is completely out of the options and the governor will continue his good work for the people of Kogi State. They and their corrupt sponsors should wait till 2019. The governor will not resign. We have listened to INEC and we respect their decisions. Now is time for the commission to fast-track the transfer of the PVC of the governor to Kogi State from Abuja,” he said.

In the midst of his travails, however, the governor has been able to initiate and complete some projects in the past 16 months while a number of others are on going.

Some of the projects he initiated and completed since he came to office include the Kogi Revenue House, Lokoja, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) office complex, Lokoja, solar-powered street lights in Lokoja metropolis, renovation of the Kogi State House of Assembly complex in Lokoja, traffic signalisation in Lokoja and internal road construction at the Kogi State High Court.

Other major projects flagged-off by the governor include the Agassa-AhacheUpogoro road, Ogaminana-Ebogogo road, Obehira-Okengwe-Ihima township road and Itakpe-Eika-Kuroko road, all within Kogi Central district.

In Kogi East, the governor flaggedoff the Anyigba-Umomi-AkpagidigboUgwolawo-Ajaka road, Ikeje-Ette-Ogugu road, Idah-Ibaji road, Shintaku-GbolokoDekina road and Ankpa township road.

Road projects flagged-off in Kogi West district include Iyamoye-Jege-IfeolukotunPonyan-Ijowa-Isanlu road, Ekerin-AdeOhun-Ifeolukotun road and construction/ rehabilitation work on Lokoja township road.