Kogi tops chart in servicing of Local debts, Not Owing Salary — Group

A group, Got Your Back Nigeria, led by the Convener, Professor Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia, has cautioned that peddling falsehood against the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello on salary payment, insisting that Kogi State tops the chart in servicing of local debts and was not owing salary. 

Prof.Chris in a statement, expressed disappointment in people who had chosen falsehood against facts and figures, adding that “the truth is that the Government of Governor Yahaya Bello inherited a workers wage bill of over 50billion naira, the truth is that at some point Kogi was owing over 24months of salary, the truth is that at some point every Dick and Harry pilloried the government of Yahaya Adoza Bello for owing workers in the State, and at some point, the cliche was ‘Yahaya Bello is owing workers several months of salary.”

“In all of the hoopla, no one cared to know how the huge wage bill came about. However the story is absolutely different today, not seeking any justification for the huge wage bill and the months of unpaid wages, the young man fondly called GYB went to work, he was able to increase the internally generated revenue of the State from 300/400million Naira to over 1.4billion Naira, and he was also able to prudently and proficiently deploy the Federal Government Bailout funds to clear the backlog of Salaries in Kogi State. Today, Kogi State is not owing to her workers,” he said.

“Against glaring facts, naysayers would swear that Kogi State under Yahaya Bello is not doing profoundly well, unfortunately, they are either blinded by hate or too lazy to verify, research and or interrogate the figures. They swear that Yahaya Bello is not an exemplary leader and that he is not the worthy bastion of the Youth O’Clock movement ditto the call for a Youth to become the President of Nigeria come 2023. But what more can be further from the truth.”

“At 46 Governor Yahaya Bello sits as the second term Chief Executive Officer of the State of Kogi, and not only has he been able to clear the over N50billion  backlog of workers salary, he has reduced the local debts of the State more than most Governors have been able to do in their States. Indeed Kogi tops the chart in the servicing and reduction of local debts, which attests to the credence, the integrity, the competency and the capacity of the young man who superintends the State of Kogi”.

“From Kogi being the State where bombs and IEDs were manufactured by Boko Haram before the Yahaya Bello administration, to Kogi being the second safest state in Nigeria under the Governor Yahaya Bello, GYB watch, what more attests to competency and capacity? Or have we forgotten that the primary responsibility of government is the safety of lives and property? On Security, GYB has done better than 95% of the other Governors in Nigeria, which makes him the unassailable bride of the Youth O’Clock fervency, and the lead choice for President come 2023.”

“Do you know that Kogi is the most gender-sensitive State in Nigeria? Do you know that Kogi State has one of the most effective and functional Rice mills in Nigeria? Do you know that from the COVID-19 stimulus package Kogi State is 60% gone in building the biggest and the best Health facility in the whole of West Africa? Do you know that Kogi State is not owing Resident Doctors even a week of Salary? Do you know that Lokoja the capital of Kogi State is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa? And do you know that the average age of the Kogi State cabinet is 42, GYB is, therefore, the most credible validation of the Youth O’Clock fervency.”

“Compatriots, when politicians churn out falsehoods and perfidy, please don’t swear on their lies, verify, validate and interrogate the figures, for only the truth can set us free.”

“I will close this piece with the indelible words of Sir Walter Scott which shall pass for a reprimand to those whose stock in trade is falsehood, deceit, blackmail and chicanery, ‘O what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive’. Be guided, for on Yahaya Bello your deceit and falsehood will not stick. We shall continue to win going forward with no greater weapon than truth. God Bless Nigeria,” he said.