Idris constructed Lokoja- Ajaokuta road, a federal project, which refund of N12bn was recently paid to Gov. Bello.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State has said it is befuddling how the Governor Yahaya Bello administration is still able to find a voice in the midst of the bedlam and hardship that its “clueless policies has fostered on the unsuspecting good people of Kogi State”.
In a press statement signed by party’s Director for Research an Documentation, Achadu Dickson, PDP said the recent allegations made by the state government against former governor Ibrahim Idris stands truth on its head.
Achadu said the former governor led one of the most successful administrations ever known to the people of Kogi State.
“Once again, and for the umpteenth time, attention seekers and barefaced liars are on the prowl in the Confluence State. After an unsuccessful attempt by government to politicize and sweep under the carpet the inalienable agitations by workers in the state to demand for the payment of their salary arrears ranging from 2- 22 months, the Yahaya Bello administration turned its discredited propaganda machinery against former Governor Ibrahim Idris.
“In their latest antics, Kingsley Fanwo Director General, Media and Publicity to Governor Bello described the former governor as a failed politician and accused him of non-performance while in office. The only evidence adduced for the tag is the often recycled claim that Idris did not extend electricity to Abejukolo his ancestral local government headquarter. They are also unhappy, that the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP is putting its acts together ahead of the imminent victory in 2019 general elections. They accused Idris of being the arrow head of the party’s reconciliatory moves in the state.
“It beats the imagination of right thinking humans, how the Bello administration is still able to find a voice in the midst of the bedlam and hardship that its clueless policies has fostered on the unsuspecting good people of Kogi State. But, being that as it may, we wish to clarify as follows:
“The brush of failure with which Idris’ traducers sought to tar him stands truth on its head. At the risk of sounding immodest, Idris led one of the most successful administrations ever known to the people of Kogi State. The International Market; the Specialist hospital; Confluence Stadium; Greater Lokoja Water scheme, housing estates in Otokiti, Ganaja and in the 21 Local Government Areas; Dualisation of all major roads in Lokoja, construction of about 2,000 primary school blocks of four classrooms each; massive infrastructure development in the rural areas are some of the legacy achievements of that golden era that people will not forget in a hurry.
“In addition, the political and financial support Idris gave to the State University, Anyigba ensured the accreditation of all its 29 programs in 29 months by the National Universities Commission, NUC. In 2012 when Idris left office, the university was the best among its peers in the whole country. It is also instructive that Idris constructed Lokoja- Ajaokuta road, a federal project, which refund of N12bn was recently paid to Gov. Bello. Needless, to say that a failure could not have attained such enviable records.
“When Idris defeated an incumbent and took over power in May 2003, he inherited unpaid leave bonuses and two months salary areas. He cleared all within a few months of assuming office. He also implemented relativity and a new minimum wage, making civil servants in Kogi State among the best paid in the country and the envy of all states in the North-Central. That is not all. In all his years in government, salaries, allowances, bonuses and emoluments were paid as and when due.
“Non payment of salaries which today is the signature of the Yahaya Bello maladministration was an aberration in the days of Ibrahim Idris in power. The most unfortunate thing however, is the fact that Bello’s so called ‘New Direction Movement,’ has proven incapable of a simple task of ascertaining or admitting the extent of its liabilities to the workforce.
“Alhaji Ibrahim Idris brought integrity, seriousness, fairness, prudence and equity to governance. Projects were sited and executed on the basis of needs and not whimsically on a chauvinistic consideration of the governor’s place of birth or proximity to same. Whereas the claim that Abejukolo lacked electricity during Idris’ tenure is completely untrue, his, was far from the nepotism in place in Kogi state today. We state emphatically that Abejukolo had light all through the period Idris was Governor. The people of Abejukolo are alive, and Fanwo’s haste to rewrite history with blatant falsehood cannot fly.
“It should be worrisome that one of the earliest projects embarked upon by Bello was the construction of the road to Agassa, his village. Sadly, the road is on the verge of being abandoned today.
“Fanwo’s claim that Idris gave contracts to one of his children and mismanaged N10bn monthly are tales from the pit of hell. All through the period Idris was in office, the highest allocation to the state was N3bn. The funds were prudently managed to record the landmark achievements of that era. It is instructive that although Bello have been collecting an average of the same N3bn monthly since he became Governor, he has frittered it away in loose living.
“We challenge Fanwo to either disclose the name of the son that got contract running into billions of Naira under former Governor Idris and other details or keep silent forever more. Indeed, it remains a mystery how a so called ‘Evangelist’ has so conveniently adopted ‘lying’ as second nature.
“Ibrahim Idris, Failed politician? Something must be terribly wrong for anyone to describe Ibro in such words. Let us check the facts. In his first outing in partisan politics in 2003, Idris won the governorship ticket of an opposition party, and proceeded to win the general election, leaving a major casualty in an incumbent whose love for power was extra-ordinary. He won re-election in 2007. Even when the election was annulled in 2008, on a rather technical ground that a candidate was unjustly excluded from the poll, Ibro again won the rerun election landslide, and distinctively governed the state for Nine years. He is the only Nigerian, living or dead who has accomplished such feat. He did not stop at that. After completing a statutory two terms in office, he led his party to another election victory on Dec. 3rd, 2011 and handed over power to a candidate of his choice, as his successor.
“Conversely, the only election in which Yahaya Bello stood as an aspirant, was far from being a success, as he did not even scale through the qualifiers. He was given a bloodied nose, in the 2015 All Progressives Congress, APC primaries in which he came a distant second to the late Prince Abubakar Audu. Now, as a governor (appointed, stray or circumstantial) Bello has demonstrated gross inability to inherit a political structure, let alone building one.
“Certainly, Fanwo’s tirades against Idris are at best the hallucinations of a confused mind. In any case, the longest day has an end. The current jamboree will soon be over, and Bello with his band of e-politicians will be required to face the will of the people. Then, we will know who a failed politician is.
“It should be noted that no amount of nitwit attacks will discourage Alhaji Idris from the task of ensuring good leadership in the state. He is a citizen that values his freedom of speech and association. As an elder statesman who has the interest of the masses at heart he will not be intimidated by those who are afraid of their own shadows. Those who live in a glass house, must be wary of throwing stones. Gov. Bello should call his attack dog to order, and halt this open desecration in the village square,” he said.
Achadu urged Governor Bello to role up the sleeves and get to work.
“He should find ways of paying workers salaries rather than dissipating energy looking for a fight. We advice him to leave Ibrahim Idris out of his woes. A word, as they say, is enough for a wise”
