By Lateef Ibrahim Abuja
A governorship aspirant for the November 16 governorship election in Kogi State, Senator Dino Melaye has declared that governor Yahaya Bello lacks the competence and intellectual capacity to rule a sophisticated state like Kogi.
Similarly, another governorship aspirant from Kogi State, Mr Aminu Abubakar Suleiman has pledged to secure the state, create jobs and also return the economic fortunes of the state if elected.Both Dino and Suleiman spoke yesterday when they came to picked their governorship Nomination and Expression of Interest forms at the PDP Headquarters, Wadata House, Abuja.
Dino, who is presently representing Kogi West senatorial district at the National Assembly, said that governor Bello’s abysmal performance was due to the fact that he did not contest the last election as he was a child of circumstance following the death of Abubakar Audu who contested and won the election but passed on before the final result was declared. According to him,, “We are resolutely determined to chase the mediocre in Lugard House. We are too sophisticated to have Yahaya Bello as a governor. We are too intellectually mobile to have a classless character like Yahaya Bello as governor.
“He never won an election,. He is a coronated governor. Now for the first time, he is attempting to contest to be the governor through electioneering process. This is his first time and we will prove to him that we are masters in the game and we will separate the boys from the men”, he said.The aspirant pledged to make Kogi a tourist destination centre and establish a ‘boat party’ in the eight hour river bank that runs from Lokoja to Onitsha. He said that over 200 solid minerals are lying fallow under the soil of Kogi which he will explore under Public Private Partnership and make Kogi a tourist destination like Dubai and Las Vegas.
Dino promised to rebuild the state, ensure adequate security and eradicate the harrowing experience of workers through prompt and regular payment of salaries.
His words, “There is the dire need to recover our state which has been completely battered, shattered and destroyed. “Today, the magnitude and intensity of killings in Kogi State surpasses any other time in the history of our state. Unemployment is on the high side.
“Retrenchment, sack and non payment of salaries and pension is now a tradition in Kogi State. The economy and the economic activities in Kogi State have completely depleted.”I have looked for people who believe that the welfare of the workers of Kogi State is the basic priority of government and people who believe that security and the welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government and all these we will achieve.
“We will look at tapping the available of over 200 mineral resources in Kogi. We will look at environment, agriculture, we will tap into mining. We will look at education that is bedrock of our people that has completely collapsed”, he said.
In a similar note, another governorship aspirant from Kogi State, Aminu Abubakar Suleiman has pledged to secure the state, create jobs and also return the economic fortunes of the state.
Suleiman who picked his Nomination and Expression of Interest forms yesterday, lamented that Kogi has witnessed the worst form of government and promised to revive the economic fortunes of the state.
According to him, “It is a well known fact that today in Nigeria, Kogi state civil servants have been turned to beggars, simply because their hard earned money does not go to them.
“When you look at Infrastructures, the basic education from primary school to tertiary institutions, they are all in deplorable state.
“Only in Kogi state over 100 qualified lecturers and teachers have left their job. Similarly in the health sector and other sectors.
“This is really worrisome to people like us and we believe that we can do better by the grace of God”, he said.
The aspirant pledged to tackle salary payment and increase the revenue base of the state.
His words, “Kogi at the moment generates almost N1 billion per month as IGR, plus an average of N3.5 billion that come into the federation account. So I think with the number of civil servants, the state should be able to pay minimum of 30,000. And if the resources in the state is properly put to use, that could be another source of revenue”.
The aspirant was full of hopes that he will be victorious at the primaries.
