By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The intending prospective buyers of the advertised Kogi property and assets set for disposal by the administration of Yahaya Bello, governor of the state have been warned to desist or do so at their own risk.
Such subscribers to the commonwealth of Kogi State, have been warned to refrain from committing their resources into a fraudulent venture, which will not stand the test of time.
According to ‘Kogi Flame online publication’, the warning was handed down on Wednesday in a communique issued at the end of a retreat organised by the Renaissance Group of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP), in Abuja
The communique which decried the decrepit and degenerate conditions of physical and social infrastructure in Kogi State, under Bello, interrogated the rationale for the advertisement of state-owned assets for disposal, by an administration which has contributed the least to the physical development of state, in its 30 year history.
“In less than six years of the Bello dispensation, Kogi State has received far more resources from the federation account, than all the previous administrations put together. Yet, the Bello milieu, has zero identifiable projects to show for the humongous sums that have continually accrued to the state treasury.”
On the contrary, the communique pointed out how governor Bello has raised the bar of electoral intolerance and violence in the state, as reflected by the gangsterism and bloodshed, witnessed during the 2019 gubernatorial in Kogi State.
“Husband of Mrs. Salome Abuh, the lady politician who was locked up in her house and incinerated by agents of the APC, after the November 2019 governorship election in the state, Elder Simeon Saidu Abuh, recounted the horrific murder of his wife and the wanton destruction of the family’s physical estate, in the unfortunate event.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki enjoined the PDP to institute a regime of intra-party unity, equity and fairness, and ensure cohesion and oneness, in the pursuit of electoral success.
Saraki who is also at the head of the national reconciliation project of the PDP, expressed delight that in the cross-country tour of his team, Kogi State did not feature on the list of states and chapters of the PDP, whose leaders and members, needed to be addressed.
This, he observed, is indicative of the fact that the party in the state is one solid block, without factions and divisions, a pedestal which the Kogi State PDP must build upon, going forward.
He stressed the need for consensus building in the decision making processes of the party, adding that forgiveness is key for reconciliation, and members must be able to forgive wrongs of the past, for the progress of the party.
Professor Jerry Gana in his remarks commended previous PDP-led administrations in the state for their efforts in the provision of infrastructure and impacting the socioeconomic development of the state.
In his own remarks, the former governor of the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris expressed delight that younger elements in the Kogi State PDP, picked up the gauntlet to put the retreat together noting that the programme and the quality of attendance, will send a strong message to the opposition that the PDP is reinventing itself.
In his address, Chairman of the Kogi PDP Renaissance Group, David Ogu, noted that the party remains the only pathway for the people of Kogi State and indeed Nigerians at large, out of the impoverishment, despair and disillusionment which the APC has foisted over the country in over six years.
He said the party will collaborate with all lovers of justice and democracy, to rescue Kogi State and Nigeria, from the grips of its retrogressive overlords.
The retreat was attended by Shaba Ibrahim (member representing Lokoja/Kotonkarfe in the house of representatives); Humphrey Abah, former Minister of Police Affairs; Nicholas Ugbane (former senator representing Kogi East).
Others were Engr. Musa Wada (PDP candidate at the 2019 governorship election); Alhaji Musa Ibrahim (former member of the house of representatives), Hon. Femi Ajisafe (former general manager at the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA) respectively.
