The Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has queried eight Local Government Chairman in the state’s eastern district following the defeat of the All-Progressives Congress (APC) in the area, during the just concluded Governorship election.
According to Punch, the chairmen include those of Omala, Ofu, Dekina, Ankpa, Olamaboro, Ibaji, Igalame/Odolu and Idah local government areas.
The platform revealed that the query was a fallout of the stakeholders’ meeting with members of the party, which was held last week after the poll, where the Governor, who spoke 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 asked them to explain why the party performed badly in their respective council areas, which are the aforementioned LGAs, despite being mobilized to provide transportation and other logistics for the people before and during the election.
A source at the event informed Arewa PUNCH that the visibly angry 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 “mobilization votes” from him, even after the huge number of monies given to them at the Government House before the election day.
Worse still, Bello noted that they failed to deliver the necessary votes as APC only managed to win in the Bassa LGA.
Bello was quoted to have said, “The implications of this is that the mobilization fund ended up in private pockets and was not used for the purpose it was meant for.”
He was said to have told the members present at the meeting that a questionnaire would be sent to them, which they should submit by midday of Tuesday.
A further report revealed that the tenure of the chairmen expires on December 12, 2023; however, they may be sent packing before the day, even as there are talks that they may be forced to refund the mobilization funds they collected before the election.
