Six months to governorship election in Kogi State, the fate of incumbent governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who nursed a return to office, may have been sealed based on a report that the national chairman of Bello’s political party, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, had foreclosed the governor’s chance for another term.
Sources said that Oshiomhole and members of the party’s National Working Committee had met and decided to field ‘an acceptable candidate’ who will ensure victory for APC in the November 2, 2019 governorship election.
Also, it was reported that the national leader of the party in the Southwest, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was pushing one of his godsons, Abiodun Faleke, who is currently in the House of Representatives, to replace Bello. Faleke was defeated by Bello in the last governorship election.
However, the Bello camp is kicking against the party’s alleged decision, as members of the governor’s faction from 21 local government areas of Kogi State had staged a protest with a warning to the party leadership against denying Bello a second term ticket.
“If the party wants direct primary in Kogi, we are okay by it. If it is by delegates voting, we are also comfortable with it. If Yahaya Bello lost in a free and fair primary, we have no problem with that. But we won’t accept a situation whereby somebody will sit somewhere and dictate the fate of Kogi people,” a leader of the Bello faction told the media.
-Biodun Fariogun
