EXTRA: 24 hours too short to list my achievements, says Yahaya Bello

Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, says his achievements in the state are so numerous that a day is not enough to list them.

Bello spoke with journalists after picking his expression of interest and nomination forms for the November 16 governorship election at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, on Wednesday.

The form was presented to him by Abubakar Kyari, director of organising, on behalf of the national organising secretary of the APC.

He said those accusing him of not delivering on his campaign promises are people living outside Kogi and have no idea of what is going on in the state.

He said the development the state has witnessed under his administration can be “seen and felt by all”.

“When you talk of anybody accusing me of not delivering on our mandate or dividends of democracy to the people of Kogi state, they are probably those who are living outside Kogi state,” he said.

“If they are actually living in Kogi state, if they cannot see it, they will feel it, because if I start to list all that I have achieved in Kogi state, I do not think 24 hours will be enough for me.

“But I can say it that Kogi state used to be a haven for criminality, kidnapping, armed robbery, thuggery and the rest – these things are becoming things of the past. That is number one.

“Number two, if you talk of infrastructure, it litters everywhere across the three senatorial districts and in weeks ahead, Mr President will be in Kogi state to commission projects and commission projects and commission projects.

“Again, one other very important achievement is the unity that you see today. The issue of marginalization has become a thing of the past because we are running an all-inclusive government. Any person that is parading that we did nothing, that person is a diaspora person.”

Bello has been accused of owing civil servants between eight to 38 months salaries. In a video which emerged on Tuesday, some civil servants in the state protested against the governor’s administration .

Armed with various placards and branches of trees, the protesters chanted solidarity songs.

“This suffering is too much, we cannot cope,” some of them sang in the video.