The cold war between the Deputy Governor of Kogi
State, Elder Simon Achuba, and the state Governor, Yahaya Bello, on Thursday took a
dangerous dimension as Achuba yesterday expressed that his life is in danger,
alleging that the governor is after his life.
He disclosed this threat to his life while
addressing journalists at his official residence in Lokoja, the state capital.
But in a swift reaction, the Kogi State Government
has denied the allegation, describing it “as bogus and an exhibition of a blind
rage by an angry suckling with a long-term pattern of abnormal behaviour
characterised by exaggerated feelings of self-importance.”
It urged the deputy governor to provide evidence to
support his allegation.
The deputy governor alleged that from all
information available to him, he suspected strongly that the governor had
mobilised his government machinery to attack him.
According to Achuba, "This is what I want to
put to the public, and draw the attention of the Inspector General of Police
(IG), the Director of Department of State Services (DSS) and other law enforcement
agents that if anything happens to me and my family or any of my staff, he
should be held responsible.
"You cannot forcibly continue to rule the people;
you are called to serve, and it is on this note that I want to appeal to law enforcement
agents and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to beam his light on
Kogi State because of the level of insecurity that is currently affecting the
state.
“The insecurity in the state today and the fear of
the people is not about arm robbery; it's not even about kidnapping or ritual
killing anymore, it is about the gunmen of the governor who terrorise the
public without restrain.”
He noted that as a deputy governor, he has been traveling
for the past two years, and the governor has refused to pay him his allowances.
"My salary is N385, 000. How can the governor
assume that I should run the office of the deputy governor if there is no other
money aside my salary?
"If you have been given the opportunity to
serve at any level and you are exhibiting behaviour like this, how do you
expect the people to describe you after you leave office?” Achuba queried.
He lamented that his problem with the governor
started right from the inception of the administration when he failed to pay workers’
salary.
According to him, his position was that salary
should be paid to workers because they work for it, but unfortunately, despite
large amount of money Bello's administration was getting, he refused to pay
workers’ salary.
He also alleged that in the last three years, the
governor cannot point at any single project embarked upon by his
administration.
Achuba noted that "leaders should not be masters
who boost; instead, you should be a leader who is ready to serve the people. I
believe that whoever has the opportunity to be a governor should be humble in
all honesty and not going about fighting people even when the fight is
unnecessary and avoidable."
Meanwhile, the state government has denied the
allegation of threat against the life of the deputy governor.
In a statement issued
yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Onogwu Mohammed, the state
government described the allegation as “bogus and an exhibition of a blind rage
by an angry suckling with a long-term pattern of abnormal behaviour
characterised by exaggerated feelings of self-importance.
“The Kogi State Government is appalled that a
deputy governor, who should epitomise leadership and good example in all
senses, could descend so low to employ smear campaign against the person of
Governor Yahaya Bello, and we state without equivocation that Achuba has no
shred of evidence for his reckless surmising, which is nothing but a scripted
venture in ruinous adventure.
“We do not train assassins, and as such, the state
government or her personnel cannot be involved in sending assassins to murder
any soul let alone a deputy governor of our dear state.
“Despite these unsubstantiated ramblings, however,
we deemed it fit to clear the air by letting the public know that the state
government would not be dragged into any form of political gerrymandering
concocted for the furtherance of any person’s political interest or notoriety.”
The state government challenged Achuba to bring
evidence of his claims or desist from making further spurious allegations.
“We warn
Achuba, who is known to history as a man whose affinity for violence is
unparalleled, not to judge us by his own standards. The report of the Kogi
State Government Commission of Enquiry on the Iyaño ethnic crises in 2017 is
still fresh in our memories.
“The Kogi State Government led by Alhaji Yahaya
Bello, therefore, rejects the futile attempt at seeking to link it to any
assassination attempt on the deputy governor, and we advise that people should desist
from seeking political capital from scenarios they imagine would advance their
parochial cause,” the statement noted.
No comments:
Post a Comment