Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has been accused of instigating and sponsoring violence in the state.
Chairman of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, Samuel Uhuotu, madethe allegation in a letter he addressed to the Chairman, National Peace Committee, former Head of State, General Abubakar Abdulsalami.
Uhuotu, said in a statement titled, ‘Complaint/notice of threat to peace and security by the government of Kogi State,’ Bello, has become vicious in greater State.
The PDP Chairman said Bello’s political appointees and loyalists were using force and violence against political opponents in the state at different times and fora.
The statement read, “The governor had on September 4, 2022, at a gathering at the Government Technical College Oboroke, Ihima, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State, threatened to lead a team of thugs with firepower to kill and maim those who oppose him and his party in the forthcoming elections, particularly the National Assembly election.
“It is no longer news that the governor, owing to his unprecedented poor leadership style, has become unpopular among the people, hence, his resolve to the threat of use of force and violence against the same people he took an oath to serve and protect.
“The governor at the event invented a pseudo name for gun which he called “ira chenyi” to replace “Ta-Ta-Ta” of 2019 which literarily mean “firepower” or “vicious fire” in Ebira Language, a development that attracted wide condemnation from the good people of Ebiraland, Kogi State and Nigeria when the horrifying incident went viral on print and social media.
“The governor then quickly issued a statement to say that he was quoted out of context and that he was rather referring to criminals in Kogi State.”
The PDP further accuses Bello of intimidating people of the state in view of the 2023 elections, particularly the people of Kogi Central Senatorial District, who had “become wary of his poor leadership style, the governor has been moving from one place to another in Kogi State with his appointees and rented crowd brandishing the threat of ‘ira chenyi’ on those who will dare stand against his party candidates in the election. He has been doing all of these under the guise of threatening criminals in the state.”
The party also told Abdusalami that the state government asked it to vacate its campaign office within a week.
“It is worthy of note that as part of the plan of the governor to cause breach of peace in Okene, he has through the Chairman of Okene Local Government Area by a letter dated October 26, 2022 given the PDP a week ultimatum to vacate its campaign office in the Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State for the flimsiest excuse that the PDP Party Secretariat poses a security threat to some infrastructure in Okene to wit: the Council Secretariat and the Okene Central Mosque. These reasons are mere machinations and attempt to destabilise the political activities of the PDP in the area,” the PDP said.
“More disturbing is the plan of the governor and his political appointees which we have on good and reliable authorities to surreptitiously plant incriminating materials at the premises of the PDP Party Secretariat as well as that of the premises of its members in Kogi Central Senatorial District all to portray the party and its members in bad light and put them on the wrong side of the law,” it further alleged.
“The series of events leading to this complaint is rather unfortunate to say the least particularly that the same governor who took oath of allegiance to the people and the law is now the one championing and sowing seeds of discord in the land,” the party said.
