The leadership of Uja’Ache Rights Organisation (URO), a socio- political pressure group in Kogi State has condemned the treacherous manipulation and impoverishment of the people of Kogi State using FG palliative ahead of November 11,2023 Governorship election in the state.
The leadership of Uja’Ache, Comrade Mohammed Idris in a press release to media men in Lokoja said the cunning attitude of Kogi State government in rebranding the bags of palliative rice to Kogi state with Ahmed Ododo’s campaign picture, slogans and names in exchange for PVCs from unsuspecting electorate and civil servants is borne out of sadism and wickedness.
Uja’Ache group leader reiterated that it has been monitoring the diabolical means of institutionalising thuggery and violence by the state government in the last eight years, and so, it is not taken aback by its recent display of shame, as the administration has being thriving on mischief.
Idris said “this singular act of social intimidation of citizens by the state, is borne out of frustration and poverty of ideas on how to woo Kogi citizens into supporting Ahmed Ododo, APC governorship candidate in the state”.
“We in Uja’Ache also sympathies with the Rector of Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja, Dr. Usman Ogbo for stooping too low and accepted to be used by inscribing his name along with that of Ododo on the palliative bags of rice, the art that amounts to sacrificing or throwing his hard earned scholarly Laurels, dignity and reputation into swins’ Kingdom”.
Usman Ogbo, he noted, is onignominiously championing the sharing of the rebranded FG palliative bags of rice in 1 kg packed with inscription, “OAU (Ododo Ahmed Usman) for Governor, Courtesy of, Dr Ogbo Support Group” to the people of Ankpa, Dekina and to other parts of Kogi East for unethical electoral rigging, resulting from his failed packaging and rejection of Ododo and APC on his mobilisation moves.
Uja’Ache described this mischievous rebranding of FG’s rice for citizens of Kogi State in Ododo’s name, while Gov. Bello held on to the N2 billion earlier disbursed to the state as part of Ododo campaign fund, as an aberation and descecration of the Federal Government’s poverty reduction scheme of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Kogi State.
The group however ceded the Bola Tinubu’s administration for adopting the archaic, moribond policy (s) in paying of citizens’ palliative fund into the States’ treasury to further fueling scandals in the handling of welfare of the citizens’ of the state particularly, Kogi State.
Federal government, the group admonished, should retract its step in palliative sharing policy by robustly funding the education, transport, health, power, agriculture and other sectoral transformation, which is beneficial to the poor masses of Nigeria than one kg or two mudus of crises infested palliative rice being shared by other states, while it is being rebranded to enrich APC Ododo’s Governorship campaign.
It would be recalled that, similar scenerio played out in 2015, when the ten (N10 billion) indebtedness to Kogi State Government under Capt. Idris Wada’s PDP administration for repair of Federal roads in the state, much earlier, was held on by Muhammadu Buhari administration, only to be paid as campaign slush fund to Yahaya Bello at the closest of 2015 second leg governorship election that trailed the death of Prince Abubakar Audu, the presume winner of the election, the action that skewed him to Victory.
Uja’Ache while admonishing president BolaTinubu-led administration to be meticulous in handling the November 11, 2023 governorship elections particularly in Kogi State to avoid catastrophy, it warns the citizens and electorate in Kogi State not to fall prey to Governor Yahaya Bello’s mischievous and failed attempt to muscle, cajole and deceiving them by collecting their PVC numbers in exchange of Ododo rebranded FG rice.
It therefore strongly challenged President Bola Tinubu-led administration to protect its sanctity and integrity if any, by investigating and acosting Governor Bello’s scandalous manipulations of FG palliative for Ododo to shamelessly rig the November 11,2023 election.
