In his first interview after receiving his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Kogi State Governor-elect, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, tells JOHN ALECHENU efforts he is making to reconcile with aggrieved opponents and his plans for the state
You are 40 years old, so you will be one of the youngest governors, otherwise called digital governors, Nigeria has seen. How do we know that your tenure will not be a disappointment?
I am happy you said I am a digital governor. Being digital does not stop at one particular tribe or ethnical group. That is to say that, I am detribalised; my popularity and acceptability cut across the three senatorial districts and ethnic groups in Kogi State. I see myself as an ambassador of the Nigerian youth in government, both in Kogi State and across Nigeria, with in-depth knowledge of the peculiarities of our dear people in Kogi State. That is why we are basing our principles, philosophy and policies on character, integrity and ability to serve in a way that is devoid of religion, ethnicity or class. If that is our guiding principle, it means everybody is welcome on board and everybody that has the good interest of our state at heart will be carried along. Development does not know any particular tribe; we are going to take development to every part of the state. When you consider the circumstance that threw me up for this position, as everybody knows that it is divine, then, I must show appreciation to God and the good people of Kogi State, who turned up en masse to vote for the All Progressives Congress during the election and the supplementary election. Surely, we are going to perform well. My appeal to my fellow youths in Kogi State, Nigeria and the world over is that this time is ours. It is often said that youths are the leaders of tomorrow; with my emergence as the governor-elect of Kogi State, this saying can be modified a little to say this is the proof that we are also leaders of today. We must prove to our elders and our leaders that we are willing and able to take Nigeria to the next level. I also appeal to all to come on board as we conduct ourselves in an orderly fashion. This is a means to an end, we must come together to build our communities, our state and the nation.
Some people have likened your victory to reaping from where you did not sow. What do you say to that?
First of all, there are various stages of an election and I will tell you that I participated in all these stages. One was the primaries, I participated in it and everybody knows that. Those who are claiming that I am reaping where I did not sow are uncharitable. We should first of all realise that from the primaries, one’s popularity is thrown up. Even before the primaries, apart from the late Prince Abubakar Audu, of blessed memory, who because of his pioneering status and being a leader of the party, ranked above me with his contribution to the development of the state, nobody did half of what I was privileged to do for the state in terms of the contribution of both human and material resources. I have contributed to the development of our state in terms of enlightenment and mobilisation, and also towards the growth of our party. The records of my contribution are there. They were clear during the formation of the party, in the run up to the presidential primaries that took place at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, and after the primaries to the general elections. Even after the general elections; before I even indicated interest in running for the governorship, my senatorial district and the party at the state and national levels, were fully aware of my contributions. Those who are claiming that they participated in the general elections must realise that there must be the party platform before you can talk of the general elections. The party had to be built before it could stand. The records are there; let me not delve too much into that. After the primaries, I had hoped that I would claim the mandate. Some of my party loyalists and supporters, who felt aggrieved, were clamouring that I should defect. I was able to calm them down and ensure that they stayed back in the party and worked for the party. You will recall that in the Kogi Central Senatorial District, rallies were held twice. The first time, nobody turned up, but I was consulted to intervene and I did intervene. As for the second rally, everybody knew I worked to have the crowd that came out on that day. In the grand finale, the National Working Committee chaired by the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and other members of the NWC were there. I was prevailed upon to organise my people just like I did during the second rally in Kogi Central to come for the rally. Nobody gave me a dime. I used my resources, campaigned and mobilised Kogi people for the event and there was almost a stampede during the grand finale. After that, I went home. I was the only party stalwart who went round to ensure that we won the elections in the central zone and on the aggregate, APC won convincingly in Kogi Central. The governorship election came; we had the first election which was inconclusive. Then suddenly, the flag bearer died and I was chosen by our party to finish the race. I participated in the primaries that produced the late flagbearer. I was the first runner up, ordinarily, if I was not popular and didn’t make any contribution; I would have lost the supplementary election. But I won the supplementary election convincingly. In fact, I beat the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party governor, His Excellency, Capt. Idris Wada, in Dekina, his local government. The issue of reaping from where I did not sow does not even arise.
You will be assuming office at a time when Nigeria is grappling with dwindling oil revenues. Salaries and pension arrears are being owed. What will you do differently to reduce your state’s dependence on federal allocation?
We have laudable programmes in mind. Surely what is coming from the centre is on a downward slide, but we intend to look inwards. First of all, how are the little resources coming from the centre being utilised? We will prioritise. We are going to plug all the loopholes to ensure wastage is curbed. We will ensure that Internally Generated Revenue is optimised and where there are leakages, we will block them. Where there are untapped avenues, we will fully tap them. We will have to collaborate with local and foreign investors to ensure that serious investors come into our state to explore opportunities in agriculture, tourism and solid mineral development. In the area of solid mineral development, which is in the exclusive list of the Federal Government, we will liaise with the government at the centre and reach an understanding because you cannot be sitting on a gold mine and still be suffering. Looking at the manifesto of our party and the Federal Government policy of diversification, we will collaborate with the Federal Government to maximise the derivable benefits.
Apart from the party’s efforts to reconcile its members in Kogi, are you making personal efforts to carry everyone along?
Surely! So far, we have constituted the Peace and Reconciliation Committee and I have been reaching out to all aggrieved persons across party line and ethnic groups. We have been reaching out to them to give peace a chance and allow me to contribute my quota towards the development of our dear state.
My emergence was divine. In Nigeria, we are basically Muslims and Christians, and whoever believes in the Almighty God will know that my candidature was an act of God. My election as governor-elect can only be ascribed to the Almighty God. Nobody would have expected that Prince Abubakar Audu would die at the time he did. Also, based on my activities, contributions to the party and my people’s perception of my character, everybody knows that in the Central Senatorial Zone, I was the only aspirant they were looking up to. Some people came up a few weeks or days to the primaries and as far as I was concerned, they came to cause a little havoc there. Now that I am governor-elect, none of my opponents has the perception to say, ‘Oh! This small boy, where did he come from?’ They unanimously threw their support behind me. I am not taking this for granted; I have reached out to all of them and currently, everyone is working seriously to ensure that we have a smooth transition and smooth takeoff.
As you must be aware, there are vested interests in the state you are about to govern. These people are likely to make change difficult. How do you intend to handle this challenge?
Kogi State is bleeding. Kogi State is underdeveloped. Kogi State desires change. It desires uplift, both in terms of the human capital and infrastructural development and if Kogites have voted for change, that change must not be partial. It must be holistic, total and absolute. As such, we must look into the huge wage bill that is currently being recorded. Is it a true reflection of the situation in the state? If it is, what are they really contributing? If it is not, we have to review it so that we will have enough to carry out the developmental projects and programmes that we want to execute. If the wage bill is so high and it’s as a result of ghost workers, it means our money has been going into certain private pockets and that must stop. This is what change entails. If you don’t stop this kind of illegality, what will you do? Where will we get the resources to deliver on the electoral promises we made to the long suffering people of Kogi State? Surely, some vested interests will be hurt but we have to plead with them to make sacrifices for the greater good of our state. We can’t be satisfying a few people at the expense of over 3.5 million Kogites.
Will your government probe previous administrations?
Nobody should be afraid of Alhaji Yahaya Bello coming on board. If your deed is good, nobody is going to intimidate you and I will not harass anybody. However, where things are wrong, we will make sure they are corrected going forward. Those whose actions were not beneficial to the people of Kogi State will be encouraged to make amends.
Coming from a business background, how do you separate your business from the business of the state?
My personal business is totally separate from the business of the state which I will be overseeing as the governor. Government business is all about service to humanity, especially to our people. To develop our state, surely, that has to be separate from the private business I was running before. As I am here now, I must give this new job my full attention and refuse to be distracted. It is what I have undertaken to do and I am confident that with my team, with the support from the legislature and the entire people of Kogi State, we will deliver.
There is also this issue of discrepancies in your academic records. How do you explain that?
This is not an issue. There are people who started school at six, some at seven, eight or nine. I was well-groomed before I started school, so that is not an issue. My academic records are there for anyone who is interested to see. I honestly don’t see this as an issue worth taking my time.
There is a general perception that bankers and accountants are stingy. You are an accountant, why do you think this is so?
(Laughs) We are not stingy; we are only meticulous and we insist on the right things being done. We always want our accounts balanced and ensure that people get real value for their money. You will agree with me that this is not being stingy; it is prudence and accountability.
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