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| Governor Yahaya Bello |
Two governorship aspirants of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the November 26 Kogi State governorship election have expressed fears that the N30.8 billion bailout fund released by the federal government to the state will be used by Governor Yahaya Bello for vote-buying.
The fund, which was released to the state government earlier this month, was meant for payment of workers’ salaries and pensions.
The two aspirants, Dr. Victor Adoji and AVM Salihu Attawodi recalled that the federal government refused to release such funds to the immediate past Kogi governor, Idris Wada shortly before the 2015 election for fears that he might use it for his re-election.
The two aspirants who spoke to newsmen at separate interviews at the Abuja secretariat of the PDP on Wednesday, said the timing of the release of the fund to Governor Bello was wrong.
Adoji said, “I don’t see that money going to be used for what it is allotted for in the first place. It is ill timed, it is improper and it is immoral”
AVM Attawodi also expressed the same fears, promising however that if elected, he would ensure security in the state as well as ensure human capital development.
Attawodi said, “The human capital development of the state is laughable because without the people, you will not have a state. I will also tackle education because education is power”.
Another aspirant for the Kogi election, Mohammed Shaibu Tette pledged to bring his over 20 years experience in the private sector to bear in his mission to tun the economy of the state around.
Attawodi said he would clear the over 30-month salary arrears owed to workers by Governor Bello within 90 days of his assumption of office if elected.
In a related development, a PDP governorship aspirant from Bayelsa State, Tobin Ziperedein Igiri was also at the party’s secretariat to obtain his nomination documents.
Igiri said he would end youth restiveness in Bayelsa by empowering the youth population through employment generation and skill acquisition.
Another Bayelsa aspirant, Fred Agbedi, who came to return his nomination documents pledged to accelerate infrastructure development in the state if elected.
