Gov. Bello in loan crisis, PDP cautions banks

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State may have been drawn into loan crisis in the final lap of the build up to the November 16 governorship election in the State.

Accordingly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alerted commercial banks in Nigeria to be circumspect in granting loans or any form of credit to the wasteful administration of out-going Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, adding that the state is not willing to bear any responsibility for such facilities when Governor Yahaya Bello vacates office in a few months’ time.

The PDP in a statement on Tuesday by Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary, drew the attention of commercial banks to the fact that Yahaya Bello cannot scale the hurdles of the November 16 governorship election following the consensus by the people to vote in the PDP candidate, Engr. Musa Wada, as their next governor.

The PDP, therefore, cautioned financial institutions to note that Governor Bello and his administration now have a Caveat Emptor badge and that the people of Kogi are not ready to inherit their financial liabilities.

The party alerted that the caution is sequel to information at their disposal on alleged intentions of the Bello administration to mislead commercial banks into granting it huge loans, under certain hazy items and conditions, after which the money would be frittered by APC leaders and cronies of the administration.

“Our party wants the nation to note that the people of Kogi State can no longer accept any further mortgaging of the future of the state by Yahaya Bello, whose administration has gone down as the most profligate in the history of our nation and which cannot account for over N700 billion of Kogi fund released to it in the last four years.

“Anybody or organization in league with Yahaya Bello is directly supporting the torturing and impoverishing of the people of Kogi State by the Bello administration, which has manifested so much insensitivity in owing workers as much as 36 months’ salary arrears.

“On our part, the PDP is committed to running a prudent, transparent and productive administration where the welfare and economic empowerment of the people is overriding; where salaries are paid promptly, where infrastructural development in critical sectors take center stage and where accountability is the watchword.

“In this regard, the PDP urges all financial watch organizations to join the people of Kogi State in monitoring all monetary activities of the Bello administration as well as all inflows into the state coffers, particularly, the N10.06 billion federal refund, which the PDP insists, must be declared and directly channeled for the payment of salaries so as not to allow the ring of APC leaders achieve their plot of diverting and stealing the money for their selfish purposes,” the statement read.