A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi, Mr Abubakar Ohere, has described the victory of Gov. Yahaya Bello in the party’s governorship primaries as ”evidence of purposeful leadership and grassroots-based governance”.
Ohere, who is the Special Adviser to the governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, said this in a statement in Lokoja.
According to Ohere, the victory of the governor was a clear indication that the bottom-top approach of governance where rural communities and traditional institution occupy a strategic place in the policy and programmes of the governor is working.
He said that Bello’s victory was premised on his tenacity, dedication, efforts at providing good governance for Kogi people, especially the rural dwellers.
”The people have not made a bad choice in your person. Since your assumption of office, you have made it clear through your ‘New Direction Agenda’ on what you want to do through the roadmap for achieving your objectives
”We hailed your political sagacity and tact with which you were able to rebuild the APC in Kogi to become a party to beat today; we congratulate the party for the resounding victory it recorded in the last general elections.
“The current APC structure in Kogi can best be described as a child that has been carefully nurtured through unique democratic processes to have the strength the party currently possesses as winning machines.
”Your measure of good governance is nothing short of what it should be; provision of service according to the yearnings of the masses,” he said.
Ohere restated that the governor had provided unprecedented dividends of democracy through the ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and other ministries and agencies.
”It is therefore not out of place for the electorate to hold on to you as a leader with style and passion to deliver.
”It is equally not a secret that you have made your government people-oriented by giving voice to the voiceless as you have always demonstrated,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bello polled 3,091 votes to defeat his closest rival, Babatunde Irukera, who scored 109 votes in the APC governorship primary election held on Aug. 29. (NAN)