Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
The alleged plan by the Governor Yahaya Bello’s All Progressive Congress (APC)’s administration to sell 10 legacy assets/ projects constructed by previous administrations to fund the 2018 budget has been kicked against by the opposition party, as they described the plan as” despicable and selfish. “
In a press statement by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and signed by the state’s publicity secretary, Bode Ogunmola, a copy of which was made available to newsmen, in Lokoja, it described the move as ‘wicked , anti-people and retrogressive’.
The statement read in part, “The news coming out of Lugard House, the seat of power, are a grave foreboding from one faulty step to another, the administration has proceeded in the destruction of our patrimony with the energy of an invader in a foreign territory.
“We are shocked that the state finance commissioner, Asiru Idris, last week, during his budget defence at the State House of Assembly confirmed this and went ahead to list these legacy assets/ projects.
“The projects/assets to be sold included the newly-constructed Kogi Hotels, Conference Stadium, Confluence Beach Hotels, Commissioners’ Quarters, Lokoja International Market, the 12- storey building Kogi Liaison office, Abuja, Kogi liaison offices in Kaduna and Lagos, among others.
“We reject this proposal in totality and warns governor Bello to immediately perish this thought… the plot is devilish, selfish, myopic. It is shameful and the peak of rascality that a government which can not pay salaries of workers let alone execute projects will now scheme to mortgage our collective future.
“Our party is not unaware of the grand plan of the government to sell these legacy projects to its officials as a decoy of repositioning the state , we will however strongly resist this evil plan” the statement added.
When contacted on phone for his own reaction, the commissioner of finance, Asiru Idris, confirmed the story and said any moment from now the consultant would commence the sale of the assets/ projects.