Kogi APC declares war with governor

The Kogi state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has written to John Odigie-Oyegun, the national chairman, vowing never to have anything to do with Yahaya Bello, the governor, again.

They accused Bello of giving power back to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through the back door, alleging that all the 45 appointments made so far were from the ousted ruling party.

At the meeting held on Monday and attended by 33 state exco members and the 21 LGA party chairmen, the party leaders also alleged that Bello is responsible for the crisis in the house of assembly which has not been able to sit because of a leadership tussle.

The federal house of representatives has decided to take over the duties of the assembly, citing constitutional provisions.

Here are the highlights of the communique from the exco meeting made public of Saturday:

• That the State government is not carrying the party structures along in his policy directions, appointments and general governance.
• That we are in the power but still in opposition.
• That we fought power from the PDP only for Governor Yahaya Bello to give back the power to the same PDP.
• That all the 45 appointments made so far by his Excellency, Gov. Yahaya Bello are given to PDP members.
• That there is crisis between our  members in the State house of Assembly instigated by the State Governor.

RESOLUTIONS

• That a communiqué be issued from this meeting to the National Secretariat National Leaders and the Presidency making these observations known to them.
• That since we are not prepared to allow our party to die, we should go back to our various levels and energize our structure and tell them to remain calm, steadfast and committed to the ideals of the party.
• That the State EXCO should cry out for help to the National Secretariat National Leaders and the Presidency.
• That we should invite all our members in the State house of Assembly and intervene with a view to uniting them.
• That we will henceforth have nothing to do with government of Yahaya Bello.
• In view of the above, we plead to the National Leaders and Presidency to consider the State’s ministerial nominee from legacy party so our party will not collapse.

THE AISHA BUHARI CONNECTION

Many APC members in the state have privately expressed worries that the relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha, and Bello may be tilting the balance of power in favour of the governor.

A member of the exco who spoke with TheCable said the way the governor “has carried on suggests that he thinks he is a world above the rest of us”.

“You can see him all over the place with the president’s wife. They both returned from London by BA on April 8, sitting close to each other in the first class cabin,” he said.

“He was also at the launch of Mrs Buhari’s book, Essentials of Beauty Therapy, on Thursday. He probably thinks his closeness to Abuja is all he needs to remain in power.”

However, an associate of the governor dismissed the claims, describing his accusers as “sore losers”.

“We know where all these allegations and scheming are coming from. It is Esau’s hand and Jacob’s voice. The governor will respond at the appropriate time,” he said.