Yahaya Bello: Buhari is not a dictator… he allows democracy even in his home

Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, says President Muhammadu Buhari is not a dictator and that he allows democracy even in his home.

Bello spoke to state house correspondents after a meeting with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday.

Buhari has been accused of being “a dictator” over alleged disregard for the rule of law.

But the governor said the president, despite being a former military head of state, has allowed things to go the way they should in the country without any interference.

“Mr President is the most democratic president I have ever seen. This is the first time we are seeing a former military head of state that is so democratic to the extent of allowing things happening in his home front to be democratised not to talk of things happening in the country,” he said.

“Whoever is tagging him to be a dictator, I think that person wished to be a dictator himself not Mr president.”

Reacting to the statement by Babagana Monguno, national security adviser, who described the Kogi, Bayelsa governorship elections as a “fiasco where the unthinkable happened”, Bello said the NSA must have been quoted out of context because the electoral exercise reflected the will of the people.

“I think Mr NSA, General Monguno must have been quoted out of context. I can say that because the last general elections reflected the wishes of the people,” he said.

“When you said unthinkable happened in Kogi State, yes of course, my coming to power in Kogi from the very onset, the unthinkable happened and God brought me on board.

“When you talk of unthinkable, yes of course, because this is the first time the so-called minority will contest an election in Kogi State win with wide margin.

“Unthinkable because this is the first time we are reducing the tempo of ethnicity in Kogi State. Unthinkable because this is the first time we are running a very transparent and digitalised government, where we are raising the revenue, blocking every loopholes.

“So, there are a lot of good unthinkable, the NSA must have been misquoted out of context.”

He also dismissed the claim that Kogi is the most corrupt state as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its 2019 corruption survey.

“It is out of blocking the loopholes and leakages that we have been able to raise the revenue of Kogi State from pittance of N300 million to over N1 billion on monthly basis,” he said.

“If you look at the percentage, then you can be the judge. So, if anybody is saying Kogi state is the most corrupt state, then that person must have his facts wrong.

“Kogi state is the most prized state in the country and it is out of fighting corruption as well because, the little resources we have we are so managing it that we are developing the state and fighting insecurity. If corruption is that prevalent then that wouldn’t have happened.”