Usman Ododo, the governor of Kogi State, has been given instructions by Usman Okai, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) immediate candidate for the Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency, to return to Lokoja so he can handle state-related matters.
He stated that rather than hopping around Abuja pleading with people to get involved in the legal dispute between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, former governor Yahaya Bello, and himself, Ododo ought to go back to his ongoing tribunal case.
Okai claimed that following Bello’s N84 billion fraud case with the EFCC, Ododo had permanently moved to Abuja and had left the Government House in Lokoja since he was declared governor.
The PDP leader signed a statement stating that the governor, along with all 21 local government chairmen, commissioners, and some of his appointees, had moved from Kogi to Abuja. There, taxpayer funds are being used to pay for various hotel accommodations while the governor monitors the ongoing Tribunal case. The statement said this is no longer news.
“The governor has a legal team, and his party has leadership,” he stated. “But, requiring all those individuals to pursue a fruitless legal case in Abuja on taxpayer money is a waste of our resources and demonstrates the government’s lack of focus.”
In a time of widespread instability, racial conflicts, banditry, and other communal massacres across the country, state governors are in their states accompanied by commissioners and local officials.
“Unfortunately, Ododo’s order for all of his appointees to move to Abuja in order to put pressure on the EFCC and Tribunal has left our state without governance.
Usman Ododo hasn’t done anything since taking office to demonstrate that he is a governor with direction; instead, he is in Abuja doing errands for the outgoing governor, who had embezzled enormous sums of money from the state.
“This is a sign of absent governance as armed robbers have taken over the Lokoja area, stabbing and breaking into student residences and hostels without any restrictions. It’s also clear that Usman Ododo would rather serve Yahaya Bello as his loyal boy than focus on keeping his campaign promises and ensuring Kogites’ safety.”