According to reports, Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yayaha Bello, has questioned eight of the nine Local Government Chairmen in the state’s Eastern Senatorial District for failing to deliver a single local government to the All Progressives Congress during the recently concluded Governorship election.
The chairmen are from the local governments of Omala, Ofu, Dekina, Ankpa, Olamaboro, Ibaji, Igalame/Odolu, and Idah.
Our investigations reveal that the question arose as a result of the stakeholders’ meeting with party members held last week following the election, at which the governor, speaking extempore, expressed “disappointment with the Chairmen for not living up to expectations” despite being mobilized to deliver their local government areas for the party.
As a result, he challenged them to explain why the party did poorly in their individual council areas, which include the aforementioned LGAs, despite being mobilized to provide transportation and other logistics for voters prior to and during the election.
According to a source at the event, the visibly enraged Governor also expressed his deep disappointment in the Chairmen for allegedly collecting unspecified sums of money from the Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaib Abubarkar Audu, under the guise of “mobilisation votes” from him, despite the huge sums given to them at the Government House before election day.
Worse, Bello stated that they still failed to deliver the necessary votes because the APC only won in the Bassa LGA.
“The implications of this are that the mobilization fund ended up in private pockets and was not used for the purpose for which it was intended,” a displeased Governor was reported as saying.
He was also claimed to have instructed the members present at the meeting that a questionnaire will be emailed to them and that they had to return it by Tuesday midday.
According to Arewa PUNCH, the chairmen’s term finishes on December 12, 2023; however, it was learned that they may be fired before that date, and that they may be required to reimburse the mobilization cash they collected before to the election.
(Credit: Punchng)