Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has faulted the result of last Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi State, describing the victory of Yahaya Bello as a disrespect to the people there.
The State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Darlington Orji, stated this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, the state capital said the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello is characterised by poor performance.
Orji said it is surprising that a governor who is allegedly owing salaries of civil servants for over 30 months would be reelected by the people, noting that in a normal democracy the reverse would have been the case.
“For us (Rivers PDP) what we saw in Kogi in particular is a rape of democracy. If democracy is actually working, people like Yahaya Bello can never return because they have nothing to offer to the people.
“A man that has been indebted to the people for about 38 months, what else did he tell the electorates before he was elected? For us it is a shocker.
“You saw what happened in the Senatorial election where about 70, 000 votes were cancelled from our own candidate (referring to Senator Dino Melaye),” the Rivers PDP spokesman said.
Orji said he expects the people of Kogi and the PDP to contest the election, pointing out that Governor Bello has failed abysmally and does not deserve a second term.
“For us at this point we cannot do otherwise, rather for the people of Kogi State and the PDP to take a decision to challenge the outcome or not,” he said, noting that the PDP is still a party to beat any day, anytime.

By: Dennis Naku

A University teacher, Dr. Kenneth Nweke, has called on politicians to endeavour to deliver on their campaign promises made to the people, noting that sovereignty belongs to the people.
Nweke, who is associate Professor of Political Science at the Ignatus Ajuru University of Education in Port Harcourt, made the call while reacting to the just concluded Governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa States.
He specifically said that what happened in Bayelsa State is a lesson to politicians, especially Governors not to take the people for granted, because according to him, there will be a day of reckoning and that what happened in Bayelsa State can be replicated at the national level if the political class continue to renege in their responsibilities.
He said: “I think that it is dawn on seating governors to note that power belongs to the people. That sovereignty actually lies with the people and that it is the peoples’ sovereignty that those in public offices derive their political power.
“Now that power is returning to the actual people it belongs to, it should dawn on them that there is absolute need to have regard for major stakeholders. There is absolute need to have regard to the wishes and aspirations of the people.
“And the essence of government is to protect lives and property and to provide the good life for the citizens. At all levels of government we are not enjoying what we ought to enjoy and except that government at all levels live up to the wishes and aspirations of the people.
“You know what has happened in Bayelsa State could also replicate itself anywhere, anytime, anyway whether at the local government level, of course local government level is barely something that we want to see happen.
“But at state and national levels. The way the All Progressives Congress (APC) won at the national level can also be replicated going forward in 2023, if the political class continue to relegate their constitutional responsibilities to the people.”
He therefore said going forward, those in positions of authority need to protect lives and property and provide the good life, noting: “for me I am almost giving up on the Nigerian state because I cannot see that as we continue to live that the essence of government is defeated.”
The senior lecturer however urged those who have lost in the election to accept it in good fate, as it is actually the people who should determine who governs them.
“It is a strong signal to the political class that the era where power is being taken forcefully from the people and that where the views of the people are being suppressed that someday that the people have a right to determine whether to continue in such political leadership,” he declared.

By: Dennis Naku

The Speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly, Mr Abel Diah, has congratulated Governor Darius Ishaku on his victory at the Appeal Court in Abuja.
Diah said that the judgment did not come as a surprise, adding that the appellate court only affirmed the decision of Taraba masses who turned out en masse for the re-election of Ishaku.
He assured the people of the state that the governor would reciprocate their gesture by consolidating on the achievement he has recorded in his first tenure.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja, last Monday, upheld the judgment of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which earlier dismissed the petition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the victory of Ishaku during the March 9, gubernatorial election.
The five-member panel of the court led by Justice Chidi Nwanna dismissed the appeal.