From Moses George, Regional Editor, North
Paul of Tarsus, a first century theologian, aptly captured the essence of divine ordination of leaders when he wrote to a Roman audience that “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”
The foregoing quote is a reflection of the widely held perception that leaders are ordained by God and not by mortals. Most people are unanimous in their conviction that Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s emergence as the executive governor of Kogi State was indeed facilitated through divine intervention.
His inauguration on Wednesday, January 27, 2016, by the Chief Judge of Kogi State, Nasir Ajana, was the culmination of fate’s subtle work towards Bello’s elevation to the plum and exalted position of the number one citizen of Kogi State.
Who would have thought in his wildest imagination that a man who fought assiduously towards clinching a governorship ticket for an election that was just around the corner, but lost, would turn around, not only to contest in the second leg of that same election, but emerge as its winner.
This kind of story could only have emerged directly out of the pages of a classic fiction thriller or a soap opera. But here, it is real and the man at the centre of it is Alhaji Yahaya Bello, now the executive governor of Kogi State.
It would be recalled that on Saturday, November 21, 2015, the Kogi governorship election was held across the state with a preliminary results that favoured the APC whose candidate was the late flamboyant Ogbonicha Prince, Abubakar Audu, the first executive governor of Kogi State. Before his passage, Audu was on the threshold of making history as the only person in the country with the record of being elected as governor three times!
While his supporters were in jubilation over his bright electoral prospect, the news of Audu’s demise, which first started like a well orchestrated rumour ignited by opponents and detractors, soon spread like wild fire across the entire state. The news of his sudden death was received with so much shock that it threw the entire state into an unprecedented state of pandemonium and perplexity.
Just before the sad development, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the governorship election in Kogi State inconclusive as a result of the cancellation of results in 51 polling units.
Since the 1999 constitution did not envisage what should happen at the sudden death of a candidate in an inconclusive governorship election, the death of Prince Abubakar Audu created an unprecedented log jam. Section 181 (1) of the constitution, which is supposed to serve as a guide in the event of the death of an elected governor before taking oath of office, did not envisage that a governorship candidate would die in a situation where an election is declared inconclusive.
Expectedly, this dilemma generated sharp and ear splitting disagreement that threatened the unity of the party in the state.
While some people canvassed and expected that Audu’s running mate, the suave Member of the House of Representatives, Chief James Faleke, should be the natural ‘heir’ and successor to the governorship ticket, other leaders who were more favourably inclined to the emergence of the youthful and enterprising Yahaya Bello made a legitimate case against Faleke on the ground that he didn’t participate in the governorship primaries of the party.
On the other side of the divide, Bello’s advocates held strongly that it was not feasible for anyone to emerge as governor without going through a valid primary election.
Expectedly, series of political meetings were held by different interest groups to ensure that their candidate emerged as a replacement to the deceased APC candidate.
While all these arguments transpired, fate was working behind the scene and dishing out its cards in favour of Bello who was eventually unveiled by the party’s national chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun as APC’s governorship flag bearer. The party also announced Honourable James Faleke as Bello’s running mate, but the former Chairman of Ikeja Local Government Council rejected the offer, insisting that he was the rightful person to replace Audu.
Following the second leg of the governorship election held on 5th December 2016, INEC declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bello as the winner of the Kogi governorship poll. His party polled 247,752 votes to defeat PDP which came second with 204,877 votes.
The result of the supplementary poll which was conducted in 18 of the 21 Local Government Areas in the state revealed that APC polled 6885 votes to beat PDP which had 5,363 votes. Consequently, the Chief Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha, who is the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, declared Bello as the winner of the election and Kogi governor-elect!
Apparently, since the inception of the Bello administration, fairness, transparency and accountability have been an integral part of every step taken by the administration in line of executing its policy thrust. The governor has reiterated his commitment to transforming Kogi State and improving the living standards of its people. He pledged to make hunger, poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment and several other unfavourable conditions that have held the highly endowed state hostage over the years, a thing of the past. Instead of encouraging the governor and his team, some people either out of ignorance or mischief have been preoccupied with casting aspersions and making wild and unsubstantiated allegations over the administration’s activities and intentions.
Speaking to Time Nigeria on the administration’s effort to rejuvenate the fortunes of the state, the Rector of Kogi State Polytechnic, Alhaji Isah Mohammed, said that “Alhaji Yahaya Bello is God’s answer to the prayers of the people of Kogi State. This governor has everything it takes to change the fortunes of this highly impoverished, but richly endowed state.”
“His passion and commitment to give agriculture a major boost will certainly translate into job opportunities, crime reduction, food security, economic sustainability, etc for the state. In line with the administration’s focus, the Kogi State Polytechnic has also decided to invest substantial resources into agriculture.
“ The decision to go into this venture is to create alternative sources of income for the institution,’’ he said.
Mohammed, therefore, called on the people of Kogi State to be patient with Bello’s administration, assuring that everything is being put into place to ensure that a better society emerges for all.
Also speaking to Time Nigeria, the Administrator for Igalamela/Odolu Local Government Council, Baron Okwoli, said that since Bello is committed to ensuring that all Kogites enjoy the dividends of democracy, he has to cleaned up the rot in the service.
“ The civil service as a government institution plays an important part in ensuring that government policies result in tangible services for all the people to enjoy. Without an efficient civil service, government at all levels cannot function maximally and efficiently.
“ We are all aware that the civil service in Kogi State had over the years been distorted and entangled in a tapestry of problems and challenges that ranges from poor accountability, low professional standards, waste and corruption, poor productivity to lack of control, redundancy and over-bloated staff structure occasioned by ghost workers syndrome.
“ Knowing how suffocating these challenges have been on the service, our good-natured governor has not rested on his oars to purge the system of all irregularities. At the end of the day, all genuine workers will be proud to be civil servants because this administration is not just worker- friendly, but also highly committed to the overall welfare of workers.
“ On our own part, we have been inspired by the policy thrust and leadership style of Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and we are replicating the same thing in Igalamela/ Odolu local government area, so that our people’s lives would be transformed,’’ he said.
After he assumed office as governor, Bello was confronted with litigations that challenged the legitimacy of his victory. Faleke and the former governor, Captain Idris Wada, challenged the governor at the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal.
While Faleke had asked the tribunal to declare him governor because the election of late Abubakar Audu was almost concluded before he died, Wada on the other hand alleged “gross irregularities,” and asked the tribunal to determine whether Bello was qualified to be declared governor-elect.
Wada said INEC contravened the electoral law by accepting to allow the APC to replace the late Prince Audu with Bello. He also argued that Bello went into the supplementary poll without a valid running-mate.
On June 6, 2016, the cases brought against Bello were dismissed and the tribunal’s chairperson, Justice Halima Mohammed, upheld Bello’s election as governor. This judgment was widely applauded and seen by many as an endorsement of the earlier assertion that, indeed Bello’s emergence as governor was orchestrated by God. Not done with the tribunal’s judgment, Faleke headed for the appellate court. On Thursday, August 6, 2016, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja again threw out his appeal on the ground that it lacks merit. It upheld Bello’s election!
The most appropriate way to describe the election of Bello is destiny coming to fulfilment in Lugard House, Lokoja.
Obviously, the circumstances that cascaded him to the exalted office are obviously far beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. But typically, the governor has extended the olive branch to his opponents to join hands with him to rebuild the state.
