As the tenure of Alhaji Yahaya Bello comes to an end today as the governor of Kogi State and Usman Ahmed Ododo is sworn-in as the democratically elected governor of the confluence state, residents, citizens and political leaders have expressed their views about the transition of power to the next governor, who like Bello comes from a minority group in the state.
Since 1999, all elected governors, including Abubakar Audu, Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada, have come from the Igala ethnic group, who are in the majority in Kogi.
That was until the accidental emergence of Yahaya Bello who was given the APC governorship ticket back in 2015 following the death of Abubakar Audu who was coasting to victory in a just concluded election but was yet to be declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Rather than declare James Faleke, Audu’s running mate governor-elect, INEC chose to declare the election as inconclusive while APC gave the party ticket to Bello to inherit. Bello came second in the governorship primaries that Audu had won.
The mood on the street, the general calculus by political pundits and party leaders was that power would return to the Igalas after Yahaya Bello’s eight years.
Stakeholders who spoke with LEADERSHIP Weekend explained why that did not happen and how Bello was able to sell Ododo, a fellow Ebira to the people of Kogi in a state where zoning or the idea of power-shift is not even up for discussion.
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