‘Genesis of my disagreement with Bello’

The close to two years war of attrition between the Kogi State Deputy Governor Simon Achuba and his principal, Governor Yahaya Bello, reached a crescendo last week, with the outcry by the former that the governor was after his life. JAMES AZANIA examines some of the issues in contention and how it may affect the November 16 governorship election in the North-central state.

From the outset of the Yahaya Bello administration in 2016, there has been no love lost between him and his deputy, Simon Achuba.

Achuba emerged deputy governor almost by accident; he never expected in his wildest imagination that he would be deputy governor. He was picked unexpectedly to take the place of James Faleke, the running mate to the late Prince Abubakar Audu, after Faleke rejected the idea of being deputy to Bello.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) national leadership  had picked Bello to step into Audu’s shoes, after the latter died suddenly when he had virtually won the Kogi governorship election in 2016; a decision that did not go down well with Faleke and his supporters.

Achuba revealed the genesis of the disagreement between him and  at his principal, in an interview with reporters at his official residence in Lokoja last Thursday. He said he had offered his advice to the governor, as second in-command, on how to handle some of the burning issues that had reared its head then, including the administration’s obligation to workers.

The deputy governor alleged that rather than focusing on deliverying the dividends of democracy to the people, Governor Bello chose to vent his frustration on his perceived enemies.

The government was to however deny the allegations. It lampooned Achuba, saying his motive was highly suspect and borne out of ‘blind rage’.

Achuba had made it clear during interaction with reporters on Thursday that his life was in danger.

The row between Achuba and Bello came to public knowledge last November, when reports suggested that the supply of water and light at the deputy’s office had been cut off and that the development was engineeered by the governor.

Last Thursday, the embattled deputy governor cried out to the Presidency and security agencies, claiming that the governor had detailed gunmen to kill him.

He said some gunmen on the payroll of Governor Bello were out to kill him. He said the insecurity in the state is not about kidnapping, ritual killings or armed robbery, but about the gunmen unleashed on political opponents by the Bello-led government.

Achuba said a culture of fear and silence now reigns in the state. He called the attention of President Mohammadu Buhari, the Inspector General of Police and the Director-General of the State Security Service, to what he described as the planned attack on him, his aides and members of his family.

He called on the security agencies to focus their searchlight on Kogi, saying that the rift between him and Bello is about the issue of performance. He said since in he came to power in 2016, Bello has been preoccupied with the fight with his perceived enemies.

For instance, Achuba said the listing of payment of salaries as achievements means the government is not working and has nothing else to showcase.

He said that payment of salaries is not an achievement, but a duty the government owes workers to fulfill.

He said complain about the non-payment of his salaries was earlier played up, pointing out that the non release of imprest to his office, which come with salaries of aides and workers attached to his office was uncalled for.

The deputy governor added: “For more than one year now, none of these salaries have been paid. Now, imprest that comes to the Office of the Deputy Governor are statutory. Once salaries are paid, the salary of the Office of the Governor, including the security votes, are paid. Then, that of the Office of the Deputy Governor. If a governor refused to do that, what do you call it? As, the deputy governor, I have allowances and benefits that accrue to my office…there is a set standard of what ought to be paid; since the day I became deputy governor, I ceased to be a private citizen. If for two years, I have been traveling, and no entitlements is paid to me, won’t the governor feel ashamed of this?

“My concern is that we should leave a good legacy; the struggle is for the progress of my people. Up till today, there is hardly a project that can be pointed to. Look at the volume of money that has accrued to the state, such that even without (staff) screening, the money would have been enough to pay civil servants and undertake projects, but even with the money, look at what you have. If you look at the issues, many are very unnecessary; all the fights taking place in many fronts are unnecessary.”

The deputy governor stated that his recent visit to the Presidency, over the lingering impasse was the 10th in a series, having exhausted all avenues within the state to settle the matter. Thus, he said he had no choice but to take his case to Mr. President.

He added that his letter demanding the payment of his entitlements followed the failure by the government to address the issue.

He asserted that dialogue, persuasion and engagement by government are integral aspects of democracy. He lamented that a situation “where government was fighting everyone from top to bottom” leaves much to be desired.

Achuba said his rift with Governor Bello was because of the latter’s disregard for civil servants. He said from inception of the administration, payment of salaries had remained an issue.

He said in spite of the prolonged screening of civil servants, the state still does not have a nominal pay roll and that notwithstanding the bailout funds received by the state, issues with salaries persist.

The embattled deputy governor said only political office holders have been paid up to date, while the civil servant are being owed two months at the least.

He listed infrastructure development as his other grouse with Governor Bello, lamenting that it is difficult for the present administration to point at projects it started and completed.

He said that with the volume of monies the administration received, it would have still been able to make the people happy, by paying salaries and still able to execute infrastructural projects.

Achuba maintained that all the fight by the governor since he assumed office were avoidable. He said his travail was not because he engaged in anti-party activities, as being alleged in some quarters, but because of his insistence on good governance.

He said that over the years, he swallowed indignities undeserving of the office he occupies, asserting that having ceased to being a private citizen by virtue of his status as the deputy governor, he saw no reason for all the injustices that had been meted on him.

Deputy Governor Achuba added a curious angle to the imbroglio, when he fingered the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Edward Onoja, as the brain behind some of his travails. He alleged that all the latter was out for, was an office with immunity, because of the misdeeds he has perpetrated.

He said there are billboards and posters of the governor and the chief of staff, all over the place, not with the deputy governor.

It is no longeer debatable whether Achuba will be Bello’s running mate in the November 16 governorship election in the state;  there are campaign posters and billboards all the place, of Governor Bello and Edward Onoja.

The deputy governor said that he chose not to resign from office, but preferred to stay and help bring change to the system.

He however thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve.

His words: ”I want to use this opportunity to thank His Excellency, the Governor of Kogi State for the privilege he gave to me to serve as Deputy Governor. I must appreciate him because if you look at the circumstance under which we all came to power, it was within his discretion to choose his junior brother as deputy governor, because the constitution did not say that it must be so-so or that kind of person. So, that opportunity remains an indelible gesture that I will always remain grateful and be happy for. Else, I wouldn’t be standing here to address you in the first place, as the deputy governor of Kogi State.”

The government has however denied the allegation made against Governor Bello and warned  Achuba to desist from making such, in the absence of any evidence to back up such claims.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Onogwu Mohammed, described Achuba’s allegation as bogus and an “exhibition of a blind rage by an angry suckling with a long-term pattern of abnormal behaviour characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance”.

The statement reads in part: “The Kogi State Government is appalled that a Deputy Governor, who should epitomize leadership and good example in all senses, could descend so low to employ smear campaign against the person of His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, and we state without equivocation that Mr Achuba has no shred of evidence for his reckless surmising, which is nothing but a scripted venture in ruinous adventure. We do not train assassins and, as such, the state government or her personnel cannot be involved in sending assassins to murder any human soul let alone a deputy governor of our dear state.

“Despite these unsubstantiated ramblings, however, we deem it fit to clear the air, by letting the general public know that the Kogi State Government would not be dragged into any form of political gerrymandering concocted for the furtherance of any person’s political interest or notoriety.

“We warn Mr. Simon Achuba who is known to history as a man whose affinity for violence is unparalleled, not to judge us by his own standards. The report of the Kogi State Government Commission of Enquiry on the Iyaño ethnic crises in 2017 is still fresh in our memories.

“The Kogi State Government led by Alhaji Yahaya Bello, therefore, rejects the futile attempt at seeking to link it to any assassination attempt on the deputy governor, and we advice that people desist from seeking political capital from scenarios they imagine would advance their parochial cause, no matter how banal such causes may seem.

“Nigerians and Kogites in particular are aware that it is not in the character of the administration to persecute perceived opponents, let alone the second in command of the ‘New Direction’ team. We have remained a model for peaceful engagement and political dialogue. Any inclination at portraying us otherwise will not be acceptable”.