James Faleke, All Progressives Action Congress (APC) gubernatorial running mate in the 2015 election in Kogi State, has advised the state governor, Mr. Yahaya Bello, to stop using President Muhammadu Buhari’s name to launder his image, which has been recently further soiled by his double registration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Mr. Faleke, who was Lagos State Coordinator of the Buhari Campaign Organisation in 2015, was responding to Mr. Bello’s claim that his mentorship by President Buhari has ensured that he has been above board in the discharge of his duties.
The Kogi governor was last week, accused of double registration by INEC, which also sacked three of its staff involved in the illegal action.
The electoral body said it would have prosecuted Mr. Yahaya if he did not enjoy constitutional immunity.
In an attempt to explain away the obviously criminal act, Mr. Bello, on Monday, appeared on a sponsored programme on African Independent Television (AIT) to deny his involvement. He claimed that regular mentorship by President Buhari has imbued him with the kind of conduct necessary for functioning without blemish. On the programme, Mr. Bello said he is a victim of slander, but Mr. Faleke said he the governor is a victim of his own scandalous conduct, adding that he is the direct opposite of what the President represents.
“Yahaya Bello should stop using the President’s name to commit illegality. I make bold to tell the governor that he has disgraced the good people of Kogi with his criminal act of double registration. I can confirm that Governor Bello did his first registration in Abuja on January 30th, 2011 while he did the second illegal registration on May 22nd, 2017 in Government House, Lokoja. I challenge him to go to court on this. It is an incontrovertible fact,” said Mr. Faleke.
He added that the governor should know that an important institution such as INEC will not publicly accuse him of double registration of it did not have its facts. Mr. Faleke claimed that after the second registration, Mr. Bello’s supporters jubilated wildly that he had succeeded in registering in Kogi State.
“They went to town with pictures of the registration process backed by a press release signed by the Director-General of his media team, Mr. Kingsley Fanwo, explaining why the governor had to re-register in Kogi,” said Mr. Faleke.
He quoted Mr. Fanwo, in the press statement as saying: “The governor’s efforts to transfer the card from Abuja to Kogi have not been successful, hence the need to seize this golden opportunity to get registered in Kogi State. The governor has to register to be able to move his PVC to Kogi State. He urges every Kogite of the eligible age of 18 and above, who has not registered to seize this opportunity by registering in order to be able to participate in the processes that lead to the choices for who to lead or represent them.”
Mr. Faleke wondered why the governor, who gleefully defended his action to register in Kogi in a widely published press statement, would suddenly turn round to deny his action.
“On May 23 2017, the governor traveled to Dubai. So, for the governor, who is claiming mentorship of President Buhari to capitalize on the date as announced by INEC to deny a registration he did and his Director-General issued a public statement to defend why he did it, is extremely mischievous and ‘unBuhari-like’. It is very unfortunate that the governor even went ahead to induce some INEC staff to remove the hard-drive from the computer used in committing the illegal registration in order to hide his criminal intentions. I have my facts and I also challenge him to go to court on this,” stated Mr. Faleke.
He added that President Buhari is reputed for his integrity and Spartan lifestyle, while Mr. Bello is a poster boy for excesses. Comparing the two, Mr. Faleke said the President could not have mentored the governor, as the latter still lives in a modest bungalow in Daura, while the latter lives in a N3.5 billion home he just commissioned in Okene, his hometown.
“He earlier bought an exotic Mansion in Asokoro, Abuja and four others across the Federal Capital Buhari would never have taught you to live corruptly and extravagantly in the midst of a poverty-ravaged citizenry,” raged the former running mate.
He alleged that Mr. Bello bought a house next to Kogi Government House for an estimated N 100 million just before he assumed office and later sold same to the state government for N400 million a few months after assuming office.
“President Buhari has made it a policy not to owe workers’ salaries and pensions, but Governor Bello owes Kogi workers several outstanding salaries and pensions ranging from 15 to 22 months,” he said.
Mr. Faleke congratulated INEC on having the courage to expose the governor’s impunity and urged the commission to ignore his protestations. He called on President Buhari to stop the governor from using his name to cover his inadequacies in office.