Why Governor Yahaya Bello is at daggers drawn with deputy

TRACKING >>THE outgoing week is one that the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Elder Simon Achuba, would not forget in a hurry. Barely 24 hours after the Kogi State House of Assembly initiated an impeachment move against him, the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC), announced his suspension from the party. In both cases, anti-party activities was cited as the sin of the embattled deputy governor.

The truth, however, is that there is more to the crisis than was professed by both the Kogi State House of Assembly and APC who seem to have taken it upon themselves to fight Governor Yahaya Bello’s battle with Achuba. Their quarrel, according to Sentry’s findings dates back to 2017 when the state government approved the sum of N500 million for an event in Kabba, the headquarters of Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, which Achuba said was too trivial for the hundreds of millions of naira lavished on it at a time pensioners in the state were dying of hunger.

Then came the death of former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Buba Jibrin, in March 2018. The then Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Senator Dino Melaye, a political rival of Governor Bello, led a delegation to pay a condolence visit to the constituency and family of the deceased Rep. Since Governor Bello was not available to receive the delegation when they arrived the state capital, the Deputy Governor thought it expedient to receive the Senate President. But his action was said to have irked the governor who felt that his deputy was making friends with his adversaries.

Governor Bello’s failed bid to recall Senator Melaye from the Senate is also believed to have stoked the fire of discord between the governor and his deputy. Achuba was said to have described as a waste the huge sum expended on the project. He was said to have complained openly that the sum spent on Melaye’s recall should have been used to pay a part of the backlog of salaries owed workers in the state.

The foregoing coupled with Achuba’s closeness to some members of the opposition party in the state are believed to be responsible for the persecution he has suffered, not only from the governor but also the party and the House of Assembly.