Kogi 2109: Disquiet over Gov Bello’s delegation of traditional rulers to Buhari

Stakeholders in Kogi State have expressed their disgust over the delegation of traditional rulers in the 21 local governments of the state by Governor Yahaya Bello to Abuja to beg President Muhammadu Buhari for the governorship ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)

An erudite stakeholder was of the view that “The strange tactics of coercion of the entire 21 LGAs traditional leaders in Kogi State to Abuja to meet with Mr. President purely on political pilgrimage to beg for the President’s endorsement of Governor Bello’s second term bid is merely an attempt to create a looming quagmire in the traditional institution.”

The stakeholder declared: “Firstly, any endorsement from Mr. President of Governor Yahaya Bello’s re-election is an endorsement of continued poverty, deaths, suicide, hunger and bad governance on the good people of Kogi State.”
He questioned why is the governor so desperate now about coercing revered traditional leaders in the state to meet with the President. “This is a complete bastardization of royal stool, he protested.

Another stakeholder remarked that when other APC governors were looking for second term, none of them mobilized traditional leaders from each local government of their various states to anywhere.

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“Now, out of fear, they oblige to the whims and caprices of the governor, while they all understood that our governor deserve no second term or such cheap endorsement.

“Where in the world will this happen, in a democratic setting where 21 traditional Royal Fathers will be dragged to meet with Mr. President with mandate to press the President to endorse a sitting governor for second term,” this stakeholder protested.

He decried that “currently, Kogi has plethora of aspirants jostling for the office of governor both within APC and other parties, while the supposed neutral traditional rulers are being ferried to Abuja to pass a vote of confidence on a governor seeking reelection.”

“This is happening in our glaring eyes, and it speaks volume of fear, intimidation and pressure already instilled on our royal fathers in the last three years.

It bothers every right thinking Kogites, and Nigerians by extension, why must a governor who claimed to have performed wonders since he came on board need the interface of the royal fathers before the President; this absolutely not good for us now, and the future generation considering our valued esteem for Royal stool,” he declared.