Governor Bello has disappointed Kogi people – ex-lawmaker

A former member of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Baba Budon, has scored the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello very low in addressing the problems confronting the people of the state.
Budon said that the people of the state had not been fortunate to have Governor Bello at the helm of affairs because they had actually been languishing under his administration since its inception.
The former lawmaker argued that the governor was not actually prepared for the task of governance but merely cashed in on the demise of the late standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Abubakar Audu, to come into office.
He condemned the alleged purchase of cars worth N6billion by the governor for the use of his security aides while the state was still owing workers several months of salary arrears.
“I am one of the concerned citizens, who signed petitions through the Egalitarian Africa Society to EFCC and ICPC of the bad spending of the governor. It will not surprise you that he has not paid the workers any salary, and if he does at all, it will be few and selected people that are not up to 30 per cent.
And as poor as Kogi State is, the governor is purchasing vehicles worth N6bn while workers are not paid. And another painful thing is that the prices of the vehicles he claimed to have used money for are inflated to deceive people in the interest of their selfishness. “All the purchases they made, I have the records with me, they are pure fraud. They used agents to purchase these vehicles from the dealers at inflated rates and we have the evidence with us,” Budon said.
Speaking on the claims by the state government that the purchased vehicles were for the use of the security agents in the state, he said, “Even if the vehicle were for security agents in the state, the amount at which they were purchased by the state government is fraudulent.
“Our grouse here is that the purchase of the cars is fraudulent because the price at which they were bought was inflated for selfish reasons. Moreover, if we are to reason very well, is that the next thing that we need in the state now? Workers in this state have not been paid for months, teachers are groaning under the government and you said the next thing for you is to spend billions of Naira on vehicles for security agents. Does that mean without those vehicles he said he bought for security operatives, our state will not be well protected?
“What I see about the whole thing is that the governor is fraudulent. If we are to look at it, what major thing can he say he has done for the state since he got to office? Nothing has been done so far. He is busy lavishing the state’s money while the citizens are groaning in abject poverty.