Hundreds of youths from the eastern
flank of Kogi state has berated Kogi East Elders Council (KEEC) over its
recent allegations of maladministration and bad governance leveled
against Governor Yahaya Bello.
Addressing newsmen at the Nigeria
Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Lokoja today, the youths who
are members of the Kogi East Coalition of Youths for Good Governance
passed a vote of confidence on Governor Bello for providing adequate
security of lives and property as well as provision of infrastructure
development and road construction in the three senatorial districts of
the state.
Speaking on behalf of the group,
Comrade Ishaq Onuh Alfred said the self acclaimed elders council lack
the moral grounds to criticize Governor Yahaya Bello, stressing that the
same set of people who inflicted underdevelopment and socio-economic
backwardness on the state for 13 years cannot turn around to be standing
for good governance in the state.
According to the youths, the allegations raised by Kogi East Elders,
which include insecurity, unpaid salaries, the stalemate at the Kogi
State University, Anyigba among others were deliberate attempt to
orchestrate conflict between the zone and the government.Ishaq explained that the elders, many of whom live outside the state raised the allegations because they were disconnected with the development in the state, adding that the state had witnessed unprecedented development in the last two years.
“All KEEC’s allegations as mentioned
in their statement were lies and a politically motivated attempt to
distract the government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello that has been striving to
correct the ills in the governance of the state by the previous
administrations.
“It is now obvious that the Kogi East
Elders Council is a self serving group having neither the mandate nor
the support of the traditional institutions and the people of Kogi East
Senatorial District. They must be ignored because they are not fighting
for us.
“No administration has ever prioritize
issues of security like this present administration. The governor has
made concerted effort in providing peaceful environment for the
citizens. In the past kidnapping and other heinous crimes took over the
State. This crop of elders were in the state but did not complain but
remained silent”, he noted.
The Kogi east youths also noted that the
present administration had been fair to the senatorial district in
terms of distribution of projects and appointments as the zone had the
highest number of appointments.
He said, “At least 60 percent of
Governor Yahaya Bello’s appointees are from Kogi east senatorial
district, including the deputy governor. Similarly, the list of projects
in the region is practically endless and constitutes a similar
percentage of the aggregate number of projects and monies spent by the
administration”.
It would be recalled that the KEEC
in a statement by Senator Ahmadu Ali last week had described the Bello
led administration in the state as an “unmitigated disaster”.
The group noted that the state had
not witnessed any meaningful development since the coming on board of
Bello, decrying the state of insecurity, crime, non-payment of salaries
of workers among others.
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