2023: Kogi Assembly backs Yahaya Bello for president, hails ‘track record’

The Kogi State House of Assembly has passed a vote of confidence on Governor Yahaya Bello and endorsed him to become the President of Nigeria come 2023.

The Assembly members, in a motion moved on behalf of all other members by the Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Hassan Abdullahi, predicated their call upon the sterling performance of the Governor since he assumed office in 2016 and is currently into his second term in Office.

According to the Assembly members in a unanimous resolution on the floor of the House in Lokoja, Wednesday, the Governor has proven capability and capacity to lead the nation.

The resolution reads: “We, the honourable speaker and the honourable members of Kogi State House of Assembly upon due deliberation of proper motion therefore, do hereby unanimously make and pass a Vote of Confidence on His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.

“That this Vote of Confidence is founded upon irrefutable and irreducible incidents of Governor Yahaya Bello’s leadership as the 4th Executive Governor of Kogi State, for a reference period spanning 27th January, 2016 till date, during which he has demonstrated uncommon courage, capacity and competence at his duty post, even in the face of the most daunting odds.”

In view of the security situation of the country, the Assembly members hailed the uncommon heroics of the Governor in ensuring security in the state.

“Yahaya Bello, has been exceptional in security, protection of lives and properties across our joint and several constituencies – a key performance indicator, if not the most crucial, for leadership at all levels in Nigeria today.

“Under his watch, Kogi State has been transformed from the kidnap capital of Nigeria outside the embattled North East, into a polity where abduction of humans for ransom, along with other violent crimes like armed robbery and the formerly ubiquitous herdsmen scourge, have become mere opportunistic aberrations.

“That this, at various times, culminated in Kogi State ranking as the second most peaceful state in the federation and the most peaceful in the North.

“In the same vein, Kogi has been rated the state with the second lowest crime rate in the country under Yahaya Bello’s watchful leadership.”

Also, the Assembly members laud the Governor’s sound economic policies and programs, which have culminated in improving the standards of living of the people. They also commended him for the life-touching projects he has executed across the state.

It further reads: “Yahaya Bello, by his creative governance style has somehow engineered a reversal of several negative national development indicators in Kogi State. Examples abound everywhere.

“Kogi State was recognised by the United Nations as far back as 2017 as one of only 4 Nigerian states at the time making remarkable progress in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) whereupon the state was invited to participate in the 72nd UN General Assembly – as personally witnessed by the Rt Honourable Speaker who was the leader of the Delegation.

“Kogi State was recognised by the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Population Commission and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as leading in the reduction of under 5 mortality rate in Nigeria even as the country has sadly overtaken India now as the world capital of this malaise.

“Kogi State is recognised by the National Bureau of Statistics (2018), in one of her 2018 Labour Force Statistics as one of only 9 states in Nigeria to reduce unemployment as the rest of the nation sank deeper into it.

“Kogi State has remained a consistent leader over the years in national rankings for Probity in handling public finances, including the 100 per cent scored last month in the 2019 States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS), which entitled Kogi State to over $20m in World Bank grants, among others.”

The Kogi State House of Assembly also hailed the Governor for unifying the state and also putting the state on the map of national reckoning.

“That this Kogi State House of Assembly further makes a Call to National Service to His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State and we hereby impress it upon him to run for the Office of the President or Vice President of Nigeria in 2023 – after his current assignment in Kogi State.

“That this solemn Call is first and foremost premised upon and born of our belief that subject, Yahaya Bello, is a fit and proper person, with the right mix of youth, experience and track record to answer same firmly and decisively in 2023 and beyond.