Ahead of the November 2, 2019 governorship election, incumbent Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello is set to dump his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the Accord party, amid the growing uncertainty that beclouds his second term ambition, following caustic criticisms from APC bigwigs and other stakeholders that his first term as governor has been an unmitigated disaster for Kogi State, now described as the poverty capital of Nigeria.
Governor Bello, according to sources, is presently facing a difficult challenge trying to secure the APC’s governorship ticket, following a babble of opposition voices and petitions by individuals, groups and even APC members who are bringing pressure to bear on the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) not to grant bellow a second term because his administration has performed poorly. The issue, APC sources told Huhuonline.com has divided the APC leadership with a cabal in Aso Rock supporting the governor, while the party’s NWC is opposed to a second term for the governor. The sources said the cabal in the presidency has assured Governor Bello of their support for his reelection if he decamps to another party. The sources disclosed that the governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom, a good friend of Bello, who is said to have President Buhari’s ear has also advised Bello to dump the APC for another party so that he could contest the November 2, 2019 governorship election.
Governor Bello’s body language and some indices presage a move to the Accord party as the governor is reported to have confided to close aides and allies in his cabinet that the presidency has advised him to decamp to another party since forces were against him for the ticket. An indication that the governor is on his way out is the removal of APC flags from the premises of Government House, including the one hoisted at the main entrance gate to Lugard House, the seat of the Kogi state government. Sources also told Huhuonline.com that the recent renovation of the Accord Party secretariat on Lokoja, the state capital, was reportedly bankrolled by the governor.
It is worth-noting that Governor Bello is no stranger to the Accord Party, as the party was his alternative party in 2015 when he lost the APC governorship primary to late Prince Abubakar Audu who died before the elections. He was eventually nominated to replace Audu as the APC candidate in the supplementary election, which he won. But after his first term, there are growing indications that the party believes the choice of Bello as the APC candidate for governor was doomed, and are looking for other candidates to challenge the incumbent in a direct primary, which the incumbent is all but certain to lose.
APC sources told Huhuonline.com that the party is merely reacting to concerns raised by members of the Kogi APC. According to sources, the National Secretariat of the party received over 10 petitions submitted by individuals, various groups and also within the party demanding that Bello should not be given a ticket for second term. One of the concerned groups, under the name; Kogi Rescue Mission (KRM), in a statement, noted that Bello’s “abysmal style of leadership has further subjected the state to political and economic hemorrhage.”
The group, which held a peaceful protest led by its President, Hon. Ali Dan, to the national headquarters of the APC with numerous placards with various save our soul (SOS) messages, described the Bello-led administration as a threat to people’s welfare and the economic prosperity of Kogi State. In their protest letter to the APC national leadership, the group highlighted various anti-people activities of the state government ranging from suicidal deaths among the state civil servants, whose salaries have not been paid for many months, misuse of state resources, victimization and molestation of perceived opponents of the present administration in the state.
The group said: “Salaries of civil servants for November and 60 per cent of December, 2017 are yet to be paid; this is despite receiving N20 billion as bailout funds, over N21 billion from the Paris Club refund and money from the monthly federal allocations as well as the internally generated revenue. As a result of non-payment of salaries, about three civil servants took their own lives because of their inability to meet up with their family needs, while over a hundred have died due to lack of funds to continue medical treatment.”
Dan Ali who spoke on behalf of the protesters also said: “Businesses have folded up, people are leaving for another state to seek refuge and workers have become paupers, feeding from hand to mouth. You will believe me that on no account will the people support and vote for a governor that operates draconian policy of this nature.” Ali who decried the dearth of public institutions in the state also told APC national leadership that the state workers have been turned to IDPs without recourse to dignity of labour as enshrined in the Labour Acts.
“Workers in Kogi State are now living like IDPs; Kogi State has become hunger/poverty capital of the country as nothing seems to be working due to the sorry state of salaries. In Kogi State today, there are no public primary schools for the past two years as they only exist in structures without teachers to teach the pupils due to non-payment of salaries; no primary health centres for the past two years; pensioners have not been paid for the past 12 months; there’s no judiciary for the past eight months due to non-payment of their salaries; and no development anywhere in the state.”
Governor Bello was not available for comment and calls and text messages to his press secretary, Muhammed Onogwu, were neither answered, nor returned.
