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| Yahaya-Bello |
The Kogi State Government is appalled
by a viral video depicting the unfortunate and very public
intervention of His Excellency, Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom
State, in the very justified and constitutionally unimpeachable move
by constituents of Kogi West Senatorial District of Kogi State to
recall Senator Dino.
We believe that Governor Emmanuel’s
unveiled disdain for a long-suffering people trudging the
booby-trapped path to Recall of their Senator in a bid to recover
their dignity is uncalled for. Governor Udom’s scathing rebuke for
Kogi West people who are engaged in legal pursuit of their legitimate
aspiration to terminate irresponsible representation goes against all
democratic norms. It also does gratuitous violence to the customary
esprit de corps which ordinarily ought to actuate the conduct of
brother Governors and States towards one another in the Nigerian
polity.
What is even more appalling is Governor
Udom Emmanuel’s decoration of Dino Melaye with the rank and
privileges of ‘General’ among all the Distinguished Senators of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria while consigning others to ‘Recruit’.
Dino Melaye is a General in the Senate of the 8th Assembly where even
Governor Udom Emmanuel’s accomplished predecessor sits? This is
unprecedented.
The irony is that Governor Emmanuel
made these comments at an event where Senator Godswill Akpabio, one
of Dino Melaye’s contemporaries in the Senate, empowered his own
people with 4 tractors, over 800 power-generating sets, 100 computer
sets and printers, as well as sewing machines, grain-grinding
machines, block molding machines and tricycles. He also announced
scholarships and grants to hundreds of students from his
constituency.
The Kogi West Senator attended his
colleague’s Briefing and Constituency Empowerment event, not to
learn how to represent well, but obviously as Comedian of the Day. He
told false stories of unpaid salaries in his state (proving his long
disconnect with current events, even in his own constituency). On cue
he thrilled the crowd with his Aje Kun Iya Ni’Oje signature ballad
and capered along with his usual inebriated gusto before preaching
his false message of death being reward for both lying and telling
the truth.
He truly proved himself the ‘performing
Senator’ Governor Udom Emmanuel called him that day. Governor Udom
Emmanuel’s later remarks in praise of his guest was just the pepper
Kogi people needed sprinkled on their wounds while people whose
Senator actually knows his job carted their dividends of democracy
home.
In case Governor Udom Emmanuel truly
does not know the extent of his brand new General’s unmitigating
records of infamy, we gladly offer him tips for the almost
inexhaustible research he needs to undertake to be anything near
abreast of Senator Dino Melaye’s narcissistic preoccupation with
his personal interests in total disregard cry and yearning of his
people.
Where shall we start? Senator Dino
Melaye has covered the field in misconduct. From fighting in support
of corruption in the House of Representatives, to violence against
women (both in his own home, to his own wife and in the National
Chambers, to a fellow Senator), to corrupting the morals of the
youths by offering them condoms in place of empowerment, to
certificate scandals, to NYSC scandals, to recorded bribery of
judicial officers, to recorded bribery of law enforcement officials,
to recorded conspiracy to commit numerous and heinous crimes against
the peace and security of his own state and constituency, to breach
of code of conduct for public officers, to publicised and unctuous
subservience to spouses and children of persons he believes can grant
him personal positions and perks, etc. The list of perfidies, like we
said, is inexhaustible.
Now it is clear that Governor Udom
Emmanuel seems to like our vacuous Senator so much, we would be much
obliged if Akwa Ibom will take him off our hands for good. We can
negotiate details of his transfer before the applicable windows
close. Since Akwa Ibom receives several times the FAAC allocations
accruing to Kogi State (note that we do not here question the equity
of it, just stating basic facts), and since Senator Dino Melaye is a
self-confessed butcher and sharer of elephants, there is no doubt
that Akwa Ibom’s elephantine financial receipts will indeed be more
to his taste.
For the avoidance of doubt, the good
people of Kogi West, having decided they have had enough of Senator
Dino Melaye’s selfish brand of misrepresentation, and having
undertaken to tread this slippery slope to self-respect have the
support of not just all of us in Kogi State, but of all Nigerians of
goodwill, including upstanding Akwa Ibomites. We therefore urge our
brother, the still very much respected Governor of our brother State,
Akwa Ibom, to show more sensitivity in his future utterances.
Signed: Fanwo Kingsley
Directors General on Media and
Publicity to the Governor of Kogi State
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