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Tag: Usman Ododo

  • Ododo Says Kogi’s 32-Year Development Plan Is a Blueprint for Good Governance

    Ododo Says Kogi’s 32-Year Development Plan Is a Blueprint for Good Governance

    By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja

    Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Usman Ododo, has reaffirmed that the state’s 32-Year Development Plan remains the central guide for his administration’s policies and governance. The governor made the statement on Thursday at a three-day training programme on development and infrastructure planning held at the Government House in Lokoja. Speaking through the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiwaju Idris, Ododo said the long-term development plan provides stability, continuity, and strategic direction for Kogi’s economic and social progress. He noted that the administration has, in less than two years, shifted from “rhetoric to results.”On revamping the state’s economy, the governor said Kogi will no longer operate as a “civil-service dormitory.” He announced that the Confluence Rice Mill had been revived through a private-sector partnership, bringing Kogi rice back to the market and creating direct employment for youths.

    Ododo added that more than 7,000 farmers were supported with free inputs worth over ₦7 billion during the last wet season. He also disclosed that 140 abandoned tractors were refurbished at a fraction of the cost of new machines to boost agricultural productivity.According to the governor, the Kogi Enterprise Development Agency (KEDA) has disbursed about ₦6 billion in grants and soft loans to over 15,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises across the state’s 21 local government areas.He further highlighted ongoing work on the new ultra-modern market located along the Zone 8–Crusher Road. The market, sitting on 25 hectares of land, is expected to stimulate commercial activities, expand the local economy, and open up the surrounding area.

    Ododo also revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the development of the Kogi International Airport at Zariagi. The airport design, he said, has been completed and the tendering process will begin soon. The project aims to improve connectivity, expand trade, and attract investment into the state.In addition, the governor announced that the proposed Kogi Free Trade Zone, to be located on 3,000 hectares within the Ajaokuta economic corridor, will soon be formally unveiled following presidential approval. Once operational, the zone is expected to drive industrialization, processing, export activity, and value-added manufacturing.Ododo reiterated the state’s commitment to the Alape Processing Zone under the national Special Agricultural Processing Zone (SAPZ) initiative, supported by federal agencies and partners including the African Development Bank (AfDB). He said these measures are designed to shift Kogi from a consumption-based economy to one driven by agro-industrial production.

    He further noted the state’s interest in leveraging the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Natural Gas Pipeline to boost industrial growth, job creation, and electricity supply across Kogi.Highlighting infrastructure achievements, the governor said more than 500 kilometres of roads have been completed or rehabilitated within the last 24 months. These include the Ogaminana–Obangede–Okaito Road, the 19.55 km Obajana–Uro–Aku RAAMP Road, the 16 km Oguma–Sheria Road, and several rural access routes in Ankpa, Idah, Egbe, Mopa, and Yagba.He added that thousands of solar streetlights have been installed in Lokoja, Okene, Anyigba, and Kabba, improving safety and nighttime economic activity. More than 100 rural communities have also been connected to electricity, while the first phase of distributing 30 units of 500kVA transformers has commenced across the state’s three senatorial districts.Ododo said these achievements reflect deliberate efforts to build a self-sustaining and productive economy anchored on the vision of the 32-Year Development Plan.

  • Kogi Guber: Federal High Court Affirms Ododo’s Victory At Primary, Dismisses Adeyemi’s case

    Kogi Guber: Federal High Court Affirms Ododo’s Victory At Primary, Dismisses Adeyemi’s case

    From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja

    A Federal High Court in the Federal Capital Territory on Wednesday at Abuja dismissed a suit filed by an aspirant in the All Progressives Congress’ governorship primaries in Kogi State, Senator Smart Adeyemi, against the emergence of the candidate of the party, Usman Ododo, saying it lacks merit.

    Delivering judgement in the suit marked “FHC/CS/556/2023 Smart Adeyemi v. APC & 2 Ors”, on Wednesday, Justice J.K. Omotosho held that Adeyemi’s allegations were criminal in nature, as he alleged that elections did not hold and that the produced results were forged.

    He said the Applicant needed to prove the allegations of forgery, falsification of results,
    beyond reasonable doubts.

    The court noted that the burden rests on the Applicant to produce the forged result or the original and the forged results to discharge the burden, adding that failure to discharge the burden “is fatal to the case of the Applicant.”

    Justice Omotosho also held that the allegation that the election did not hold was also not substantiated as the Applicant only provided evidence from his Ward in Ijumu LGA.

    He said, in any case, this evidence was denied by the Respondents who attached the monitoring reports of INEC, which has the duty to monitor the election.

    “In this case, INEC attached its monitoring report and also attached copies of the result, police report confirming the conduct of the election signed by the Commissioner of Police, the case of the Applicant has no basis,” he said.

    “In the final analysis, having reviewed all the evidence in this matter, I have no doubt that the APC primary election result held in all the wards of Kogi State on the 14th day of April 2023 and I so hold”. He concluded.

    “This Honourable Court will not allow the will of a few just like that of the Applicant to overide the will of the majority. The Applicant’s case has no merit. It is hereby dismissed.”

  • Kogi November Guber: Ododo is a Kogi Movement – Fanwo

    Kogi November Guber: Ododo is a Kogi Movement – Fanwo

    From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja

    The Kogi state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Hon. Kingsley Fanwo has expressed confidence in the landslide victory of All progressive Congress in the November 11, 2023 poll.

    Fanwo who made this known while speaking with journalists in Lokoja said the pedigree of the party in the state is such that the opposition will “continue to struggle”, saying the aspiration of Alh. Usman Ododo is a “movement of a united Kogi people”.

    The APC chieftain said Ododo has been meeting with stakeholders across the state from the East to the West and Central, because he is running on the card or a united Kogi State adding that he is confident that his programs and the achievements of the Yahaya Bello administration will deliver victory to him.

    “The commitment of stalwarts and our compatriots across the ethnic, religious and class lines has been phenomenal, a clear demonstration of what Yahaya Bello laboured for seven years to build which is a people united by destiny.”

    “The APC has done well in Kogi State and will continue to earn the trust of the people. GYB delivered Kogi to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, won all the three Senatorial seats, won six of the nine Reps seats and won 22 of the 25 Assembly seats. It is an indomitable, thumping political warchest. In November 2023, the people will speak again with a resounding voice that Kogi is APC and APC is Kogi”.

    The APC Chieftain said those campaigning on ethnic lines “missed their roads to a new Kogi where ethnicity and religion do not determine who drives the car but the competence to drive the car insisting that they will “meet their political Waterloo at the appropriate time”.

    “Ethnic and religious politics ended in Kogi in January 2016 and will never raise its ugly head again. That is why those who truly cherish the development of our State are leaving our opponents in their sinking ship to join the Team that has done Kogi proud in the last seven years”, he said.

    “Our candidate has learnt the ropes from Kogi’s best Governor ever. He has seen the commitment of the present administration to security, education, healthcare, rural development, urban renewal as well as human capacity building. He has watched from close quarters , how GYB has turned the youth to leaders of today and involved women in governance. He will follow that path.”

    “While they are talking about Ethnic Agenda, we are discussing with Kogites, how to take the budget for education and healthcare further. We are discussing with Kogites how to expand the nets of our health insurance to capture more beneficiaries. We are discussing with Kogites how to empower rural women and rural farmers. That has been our business in the last seven years and it won’t change”.

    On the vandalization of the Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation at OCHAJA, Fanwo said the State Government is still awaiting police investigations on the matter, assuring the people that those who vandalized the broadcast facility will surely be brought to book.

    “We are in touch with security agencies and we have given them the intelligence at our disposal. They know how to do their job and we are confident they will get to the root of the matter. All I know is that we will soon be back on air after improving the security around our broadcast facilities across the state”, he assured.

  • Kogi APC Guber Candidate, Usman Ododo Congratulates President Tinubu

    Kogi APC Guber Candidate, Usman Ododo Congratulates President Tinubu

    From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja

    The Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo on Tuesday congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his assumption of office as the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    In his congratulatory message made available to newsmen in Lokoja on Tuesday, Ododo felicitated with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he described as a historic crowning of his tenacious political journey and hard work towards democratic governance in Nigeria.

    Ododo who expressed optimism that President Tinubu will work for the peace, progress and prosperity of Nigeria, noted that the new President has the ability to unite all Nigerians for the onerous task of building the nation with the renewed hope and mandate giving to him by Nigerians.

    The Kogi APC Governorship candidate who described the President as a natural leader and a unifier that the country needs at this point in its political history, said President Tinubu has a track record of discovering talents and building people from all over the country with a rare ability to mend fences and build bridges across the length and breadth of Nigeria for the common good of the country.

    Ododo urged the President to harness the enormous human and material resources available in Nigeria to transform the country and prayed for the success of the new administration.

    “We all remember his contributions in the pro-democracy struggles and his ability to reach out to people across different platforms in the interest of the country. I am confident that he will unify and transform this country irrespective of our present challenges as a people and I wish him well”

    He called on all Nigerians to support the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to succeed in his determination to pull Nigeria through one of the most challenging times in the history of the country.