N2m donation by Kogi Youths stirs troubled waters over Bello’s re-election

Some youths in Kogi State aggregated on the platform of the Forum of Coordinators of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), on Monday stirred the troubled waters of the state polity when they donated N2 million to Governor Yahaya Bello for the purchase of his expression of intent form of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 2, 2019, governorship election in Kogi State.

The Youths identified to be mobilized from the 21 local governments of Kogi State had presented a N2 million cheque to Governor Bello for the APC intent form for his re-election at a time workers in the state are lamenting the unpaid 22 months salaries by the governor.

Chairman of the Forum of Coordinators of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Comrade Abdullahi Adamu, presenting the cheque, at the Government House, Lokoja, on Monday, explained that the Youths decided to support the governor’s second term campaign in order to sustain the administration’s good programmes for the development of the state.

Adamu had noted the commitment of the Bello administration to ensure a secured future for youths of the state.

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In a contradictory statement, Adamu commended Governor Bello for the gigantic developmental strides in the state, which he said stimulated the yearning of the people for the governor to run again. He was of the view that it is important to protect Kogi’s present proximity with the APC-controlled Federal Government.

The Forum chairman encouraged Governor Bello to be focused in moving the state forward irrespective of the criticisms from the opposition.

Comrade Adamu said that the social, economic and political configuration of Kogi State has changed for the better since Governor Bello assumed office.

The Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Prince Salisu Sani Ogu, welcoming the donors, described their action as a milestone in the aspirations of Governor Bello to return to Lugard House for another term.

The Governor was said to have thanked the youths for their steadfast support for his administration. Bello was said to have declared that the N2 million donation is a watershed and loud statement of what the real desires of the youths are in Kogi State.

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The governor, represented by the Chief of Staff, Edward Onoja, expressing the gesture, noted that he was not surprised by the overwhelming show of love of the Youths, adding that the mandate was divinely given in the first place.

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However, reports from Kogi State on the administration of Bello have not been encouraging. Several stakeholders have been lamenting the perceived magnitude of failure of governance in the state in about the past three years. Kogi State had at different times been turned into a theatre of violence and unrestrained killings, in addition to infrastructures decay, rinsing unemployment, etc. interestingly, Governor Bello, personally appealed for a second chance to make amends, particularly, to pay 38 months salaries to the state workforce. With the self-admission of failure, several stakeholders contended that the claims of achievements by the Forum of Coordinators of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), is imaginary, describing their N2 million donation as sheer sycophancy and political decoy.