BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Mohammed Onogwu, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, has said that Nigerians at home and the Diaspora are urging his boss to contest as president in the 2023 general elections as a result of his track-record in areas of security and financial accountability.
Onogwu accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of embarking on what he termed as ‘hatchet job’ for attacking Bello’s popularity and for throwing up allegation that the state illegally fixed the bailout fund meant for payment of workers’ salary in Sterling Bank.
The aide to the governor challenged the anti-graft agency to make public details of the bank transaction or risk being sued for defamation of his boss’s character.
Onogwu clarified that the bailout fund had been used to defray the salary arrears of workers in the state and that the names of beneficiaries had been published in three national dailies in 2019. He added that the state government does not owe the workers as the governor had given a standing order that civil servants should be paid their salaries between 25th and 28th of every month.
The CPS, in a recent interview in Osogbo, explained that Bello had yet to declare his interest to run for presidency, although some Nigerians had been asking him to throw his hat into the ring in the light of his achievements in areas of security, peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, financial accountability and infrastructural development in Kogi State.
On the allegation that the state’s bail out account was frozen, Onogwu said, “The EFCC was trying to carry out a hatchet job. It’s absurd for them (EFCC) to carry out this without proper investigation. The former governor of the state had applied for the bailout and Governor Yahaya Bello pursued it vigorously. When the money came in July 2019, the state government applied it judiciously for what it was meant. After the payment of salaries, the names of all civil servants at the state and local governments were collated and the months that the bailout was used to defray their salaries were all stated.
“Nigerians had been asking him to throw his hat into the ring in the light of his achievements”
“When the governor asked us to publish these details in the national dailies, because it consumed about 35 pages, we said it was too much and we didn’t even foresee that something like this was coming up. But the governor insisted for the sake of transparency and accountability. That publication was done in the Nation, Blueprint and Leadership newspapers in 2019. So, coming to say that the money that was supposed to be used to defray salary arrears were fixed in a bank account was embarrassing.
“They are just doing these things to attack the popularity of Governor Yahaya Bello. An anti-corruption agency should face its mandate and should not allow itself to be used to score any political point by some political groups. We are dismayed that the agency under President Muhammadu Buhari has nosedived into political-witch-hunting. We have written them and asked them to clear the air or we charge them to court for defamation of character.
“Kogi State, as far as the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello is concerned, has been rated as one of the most accountable states in Nigeria by the World Bank. We have benefited from World Bank facilities because we made our account details and transactions transparent. If anybody thinks that this move is to diminish the popularity of the governor, he is not in his right senses.
“When it comes to accountability, the governor, the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning and the Auditor-General of Kogi State are chattered accountants, so, they know the rudiments of accountability and that is what the government has applied from inception. We want the media to also approach the EFCC to make public the statement of the account that was purportedly frozen. They are on a hatchet job and this will mar the image of the agency.
“If you fix N20 billion in a fixed deposit account in 2019, no matter how, no matter the interest rate, by this 2021, you should be having extra N200 million on that account. Ask any banker, they will tell you. So, if you put all these together, you will be convinced that the agency is out for witch hunting. They are not abreast with the reality. That is not good for the image of the country. An agency that is supposed to fight corruption must be seen to be diligent and thorough in its investigation and that is what they are not doing as far as this matter is concerned.”
Insisting that the allegation was weaved in to indict the personality of the governor as a result of his perceived political ambition, the aide said “The governor has not formally declared interest to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari. In Nigeria today, we have two major problems, one is insecurity and the other is lack of unity and coercion and the governor has addressed that in Kogi
State.
“Kogi is the most peaceful state in the country today. That’s why Nigerians are calling the governor, that if he can be able to provide peace for the people of his state that is surrounded by 10 other states, including the FCT, it means that he has the requisite knowledge of fixing this country. He has been building roads, hospitals and other infrastructure. He has ensured peace between Christians and Muslims in Kogi. These are the reasons why Nigerians are calling on Governor Yahaya Bello to run for presidency in 2023.”
