Ukomu Igàlà Organization Diaspora Chapter and Stand on the coming November 16, 2019 Governorship Election.

It is with anguish and frustration that we of UKOMU IGALA ORGANIZATION, The Diaspora chapter write to call attention to the ongoing reign of terror, anarchy and wholesome looting of the treasury by the Yahaya Bello administration in Kogi state. We are especially disturbed by governor Bello’s poise not just toblatantly rape our fledgling democracy, but also his apparent determination to systematically decimate and reverse all of the growth and developmental gains recorded by our people in recent times. These concerns are made worse by the seeming complicity of the Buhari-led Federal government and its compromised agencies such as the judiciary, military, Police, EFCC and INEC. The roles being played by all these agencies in the ongoing attempt to disenfranchise our people, through their actions and inaction are visible for all reasonable Nigerians to see.

Given the circumstances of his emergence as governor and the cloud of illegitimacy with which he started out, it would have been a pleasant surprise if Bello went on to become a transformational leader in the mold of Prince Abubakar Audu(of blessed memory), the man whose electoral victory he inherited. However, we did harbor expectations that as governor, Bello would pretend to be fair, humble, equitable, and in a hurry to demonstrate, through deliberate, principled policies that he is deserving of the people’s mandate. But alas! It has since become apparent that the benefit of the doubt we accorded him was misplaced.

Consequently, and as a first step, Ukomu Igala Organization, the Diaspora Chapter calls on all Igala sons and daughters within and outside Igalaland, and indeed all citizens of Kogi State to come home to mobilize and massively vote OUT the tyrannical government of Governor Yahaya Bello in the November 16th election. Obviously, Eng. Musa Wada of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is the only candidate who has the highest chance, capacity and credibility to oust Bello’s irresponsible administration, and restore our people’s hope in government once again.

Ukomu Igala Organization traditionally tries to stay above partisan politics and typically does not endorse people for elective offices. However, the election coming up on November 16, 2019 is not a normal election and therefore cannot be approached using traditional considerations. The APC leadership, both at the Federal and the State levels have by their actions made the coming election a choice between APC/Bello and the Igala Nation on one hand, and the defeat of tyranny on the other hand. Since the existence of Igala Nation as we know it is on the ballot, Ukomu Igala which is the mouth-piece of the Igala nation cannot afford to be on the sideline or be silent. That is why we the Diaspora Chapter feel a sense of obligation to make our position known before the November 16th election. Right from when the replacement process for late Prince Abubakar Audu was executed to the time of this press statement, the powers that be in the leadership of APC have left nobody in doubt that they are on a mission to decimate and diminish the Igala ethnic group and render its members irrelevant in the Nigerian political space.

The disrespect for the Igala people began with the selection of an immature person who never participated in the election to inherit the votes of Prince Audu, an Igala man. Anybody who understands ethnic politics in Nigeria know that this action by the APC leadership couldn’t have taken place in many parts of the country without causing a major upheaval. If they could legally justify the selection of a non Igala who never supported the party when Audu emerged as the party flag bearer to inherit his vote, they could have, if they wanted, come up with a legal process for the peoples’ choice to inherit Audu’s votes, or at least provide a level playing field for a replacement for Audu, through another transparent primary process. What was even more disgusting is that Bello was not even a registered voter at the time of the election in Kogi State, and campaigned against Audu’s election and invariably campaigned against APC.

The disdain for the Igala Nation is also on display with appointments to Senior Federal Positions at both state and federal levels. As we speak, Igala, the ninth largest ethnic group in the country has no seat in a 42 member Federal Executive Council (FEC) where policies are made and decisions on project allocations and execution are carried out. As we speak, no Igalaperson is deemed good enough to be appointed as an Ambassador to any country in the world.

The APC led Federal Government watched while Bello presided over the most tyrannical and repressive Government that the country has ever seen. The major victims of the repressive reign of Bello are Igala people who are the majority in the state. This fellow operates with utmost impunity. This fellow operates as if he is above the law. It sure looks as if he is above the law. He has used thugs to shut down the Kogi State House of Assembly twice with nobody strong to call him to order or to account for his actions. He has literally cowed the legislative branch of the state government to submission. Now the legislative branch operates as an appendage of Governor Bello’s executive branch. Governor Bello has completely decimated the only institution that has ensured that Kogites have access to quality higher education, Kogi State University. For over two years now Governor Bello disbanded the Kogi State University branch of ASUU and sacked most of the lecturers. Nobody was strong enough to call him to order. The APC led Federal Government just looked the other way.

The University Teaching Hospital that the previous administrations invested heavily to establish has been completely run down by Governor Bello and his team. As a result, some of the brightest lecturers in the university have since left. In Lokoja the seat of Government, no single Igalaperson is good enough to hold any sensitive position in Government. The Igala nation has been reduced to mere spectators in a state in which they are the majority. The highest position that an Igala man held, which is the position of Deputy Governor was completely decimated just because the deputy Governor was bold enough to challenge Governor Bello’s misrule.

Governor Bello eventually used his rubber stamp legislature and judiciary to humiliate and impeach the Deputy Governor through a Kangaroo process that the whole world knows cannot withstand any constitutional scrutiny. Through all the travails of the Deputy Governor, the APC led Federal Government looked the other way while Governor Bello operated with impunity. It is common knowledge that Governor Bello operates a criminal empire in which armed thugs are major players.

The entire world watched while Governor Bello imported arms into the country to perpetuate his rule of tyranny. At no time was Governor Bello’s jungle rule of thugs on fuller display than during the last Presidential, National Assembly, and State Assembly elections where thugs were brazenly used to intimidate voters, snatch ballot boxes, and disrupt the electoral process especially in Kogi East. Military and security agencies were openly used to aid this brazen display of mob rule. Since the entire APC apparatus was a major beneficiary of the electoral fraud, the APC led Federal Government looked the other way while the fraud was being perpetrated.

There is no worse example of Governor Bello’s misrule than the decimation of the civil service. The Civil Service is the largest employer of labor in Kogi State. Majority of Kogi population depend on the salary of their bread winners who are civil servants to survive. We can imagine the level of poverty, hunger, and desperation that was visited on the entire Kogi state population when the salaries of civil servants are not paid in some cases for upward of 38 months. Kogi State received the highest bailout money in the country.

It also received billions and billions of naira of Paris club refund. These are in addition to the normal monthly Federal allocations. But the Government of Governor Bello in the highest display of man’s inhumanity to man would not pay civil servants their wages for months and years while he and his appointees brazenly display opulence with mansions being built and advertised. The Governor who could not pay salaries of his workers however has 500 million naira to dole out to APC States where elections are held

The worst humiliation meted out to the Igala Nation is the decision by the APC leadership that Bello and his tyrannical government was more important to them than the entire IgalaNation. He was so important that they went to the extent of disqualifying some of the finest men that the Igala race has ever produced such as Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin (Rtd), a former Chief of Naval Staff, Major General Patrick Akpa (Rtd), a former Army Secretary, and Professor Seidu Ogah, the immediate past Director General of National Space research and Development Agency (NASRDA). These top rated Igala men were disqualified using flimsy excuses but Yahaya Bello who has no business of seeking second term because of abysmal failure in office and his publicly known issue of double registration which is a criminal offense for which two INEC staff lost their jobs, was given the ticket of the party. The President who earlier stated that no Governor who owes workers salary deserves to be elected for second term was nowhere to be found when the same party of which he is the leader cleared all obstacles for Bello to be given the ticket of the party. Bello does not only owe salaries but he is nationally and internationally recognized as the governor with the worst record on non-payment of salary, having owed some workers up to 38 months of salary at some point. What criteria was used to grant Bello the party flag bearer? Your guess is as good as ours.

While the Igala people are the greatest victims of the tyrannical rule of Governor Yahaya Bello, make no mistake about it, no section of the state is spared of the misrule of Governor YahayaBello. The high poverty, and hunger visited on the state by non-payment of salaries for upwards of 30 months at a point did not affect only the Igala people, It affected the entire population of the state, including Ebira, the tribal group to which he belongs. The high handedness with which Bello ruled and the attendant fear instilled in people was felt by the entire population of the state. Thus, the entire state must see it as a sacred duty to future generations to massively vote out Governor Yahaya Bello on November 16, 2019.

Ukomu Igala Organization in Diaspora calls on INEC and security agencies to ensure they maintain utmost neutrality and transparency in the coming election for the sake of their image and the oath they took to affirm their loyalty to the Nigerian Nation.

Ukomu Igala Organization in Diaspora calls on Kogites to be ready to defend their vote and ensure that their votes count during the coming election. You have the constitutional right to defend your vote.

Long Live The Igala Nation

Long Live Kogi State

Long Live The Federal Republic of Nigeria

Signed:

Dr. John Onuh, Chapter Chairman

Mr. Amos Amodu, Chapter Secretary General

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