The Kogi state chapter of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) has written to John Odigie-Oyegun, the national
chairman, vowing never to have anything to do with Yahaya Bello, the governor,
again.
They accused Bello of giving power back
to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through the back door, alleging that all
the 45 appointments made so far were from the ousted ruling party.
At the meeting held on Monday and
attended by 33 state EXCO members and the 21 LGA party chairmen, the party
leaders also alleged that Bello is responsible for the crisis in the house of
assembly which has not been able to sit because of a leadership tussle.
The federal house of representatives
has decided to take over the duties of the assembly, citing constitutional provisions.
Here are the highlights of the
communique from the EXCO meeting made public of Saturday:
§ That the State
government is not carrying the party structures along in his policy directions,
appointments and general governance.
§ That we are in the
power but still in opposition.
§ That we fought
power from the PDP only for Governor Yahaya Bello to give back the power to the
same PDP.
§ That all the 45
appointments made so far by his Excellency, Gov. Yahaya Bello are given to PDP
members.
§ That there is
crisis between our members in the State house of Assembly instigated by the
State Governor.
RESOLUTIONS
§ That a communiqué
be issued from this meeting to the National Secretariat National Leaders and
the Presidency making these observations known to them.
§ That since we are
not prepared to allow our party to die, we should go back to our various levels
and energize our structure and tell them to remain calm, steadfast and
committed to the ideals of the party.
§ That the State EXCO
should cry out for help to the National Secretariat National Leaders and the
Presidency.
§ That we should
invite all our members in the State house of Assembly and intervene with a view
to uniting them.
§ That we will
henceforth have nothing to do with government of Yahaya Bello.
§ In view of the
above, we plead to the National Leaders and Presidency to consider the State’s
ministerial nominee from legacy party so our party will not collapse.
§ Many APC members in
the state have privately expressed worries that the relationship between
President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife, Aisha, and Bello may be tilting the balance
of power in favour of the governor.
§ A member of the exco
who spoke with TheCable said the way the governor “has carried on suggests
that he thinks he is a world above the rest of us”.
§ “You can see him all
over the place with the president’s wife. They both returned from London by BA
on April 8, sitting close to each other in the first class cabin,” he said.
§ “He was also at
the launch of Mrs Buhari’s book, Essentials of Beauty Therapy, on
Thursday. He probably thinks his closeness to Abuja is all he needs to remain
in power.”
§ However, an associate
of the governor dismissed the claims, describing his accusers as “sore
losers”.
§ “We know where all
these allegations and scheming are coming from. It is Esau’s hand and Jacob’s
voice. The governor will respond at the appropriate time,” he said.
Sources: +thecable ng