Emmanuel, Adeyemi, Lokoja
The Director- General Kogi APC campaign council, Senator Smart Adeyemi has said governor Yahaya Bello will win landslide in next month’s governorship election.
He also spoke on the Appeal court verdict that nullified the election of Dino Melaye among other issues.
After the Appeal Court nullified the election of Senator Dino Melaye and called for a re-run, what is your take towards the upcoming election?
Firstly, I will like to say I’m delighted with the judgement; it further confirms that judiciary is still the hope for the cheated ones, afflicted ones in our country. Most especially , I give glory to the almighty God that the horse and his rider have been thrown into the sea. My innermost belief is that the Egyptians I see today, I will see them no more.
But Senator Melaye also engagees in such prayers as you are doing and has a strong belief that he would defeat you anytime
I will say even Satan knows the word of God better than we do; someone quoting the word of God and has a strong positive belief doesn’t make him a righteous person. The difference between a righteous person and an unrighteous person quoting the word of God is that the power of God comes from spoken words of the righteous and not the unrighteous. The word of God can be quoted by anybody but the efficacy of the word manifests in the righteous.
Are you saying you will defeat him at the re-run election?
It is quite obvious that the powerful politicians in PDP are now defecting to APC in their thousands; take for instance the whole of Yagba constituency, all the notable leaders and mobilisers have defected to APC. It’s time that will determine the exact position of PDP in Kogi State. There is no seriousness on that party that shows they can win . The PDP thought that the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar will roll out some millions for them, which is not forthcoming, and even the PDP governors expected to donate for them are not responding, because no one will actually want to invest in where there is no positive yield. As I speak to you, PDP is disorganised, they are confused, they lack focus, they lack strength, it will be a miracle for a PDP candidate to win 25 per cent of any re-run election. Kogi State was a state that was governed by PDP for many years and there were many issues which were not faced judiciously during their tenure but thank God who gave us his Gov. Yahaya Bello to meet the needs of the people.
Take for instance, two former governors, Wada and Ibrahim Idris’ communities are being electrified by Bello. It was very absurd of them, because they never thought of their community during their tenure.
In my community (ijumu), we had electricity in 1974 while the community where the governor hails from was full of darkness.
Most re-constructed roads in Kogi State were done under the regime of Gov. Bello. He has also faced the agricultural aspect of the state in terms of cassava plantation, palm tree plantation and even provided equal political and socio-economic opportunities irrespective of their tribes and religion.
As the D.G of Bello’s campaign organisation, I’m not against people condenming us. Everyone has his or her rights to express opinions but your opinions might be just to you but your fact is not just. In essence, people have come to realise that it pays to give support to APC which is the only party in the state that is organized and purposeful.
The only error committed is that we didn’t pay salaries on time which was not our making; meanwhile, it was as a result of loans of the previous administration, but glory be to God that we got bail out and we are out of it already.
The primary responsibility of any progressive government is the protection of lives and properties of the people which is being done effectively by Gov. Bello.
Kogi State has always been a highly diverse state but Bello was able to group us together in one accord. We now have a slogan called EBIGO meaning Ebira Igala and Okun people. Gov. Yahaya Bello was able to prove that he is a great leader; even in religion, we have no religious discrimination. He treats everyone as one, followed by the constitutional coats “Equality before the law”.
After many years of the creation of the state, Bello is the only governor building a church in the Government House, Lokoja.
Furthermore on education, in Kogi State University, Bello has provided much facilities for them to enhance the learning of the students, even in our local primary schools. He was able to raise the standard for them and made the environment conducive for learning.
Of recent , there was controversy over the invitation of some Okun- Yoruba political leaders; it was said that you led them to the governor, and the people said they weren’t actually there to support Bello but for the interest of Okun land. Can you clarify that?
As a Yoruba person, I will not confront any elder in the name of administration; it’s against the Yoruba norms and values. All I know is that they came , they appreciated the achievements made, they made observations at the areas they need assistance. My role was to make sure the elders of my community didn’t come in vain by not seeing the governor.
The essence of the meeting was basically to interact with the governor and praise him for the achievements made.
What are you going to do differently at the upper chamber of the national Assembly if you win again?
To God be the glory, I was opportune to be at the National Assembly some years ago, of which I realise the wrongs at the national level. The area I will like to focus now will be construction of serious monument or structures in my senatorial district.
While I was the Senator, I struggled to get the Kabba-Ilorin road awarded but unfortunately five years down the line , the road is still there because after then, they never had a senator who could appreciate the role of good road network to facilitate the issue of economic development of the people, this will be one of my major projects when I’m back.
Specifically, you were the one who spearheaded the Federal University, Lokoja, project but unfortunately, it wasn’t sited in Kabba, so what will you do to ensure that the ABU (University of Agricultural) is turned into a full fledged University because we understand that the outgoing senator tried his best over it but failed to make that dream come true.
Firstly, we need to understand that before getting government attention, you must get your politics right, you cannot be criticising the government senselessly and expect them to award a project to your glory or give you support. So, I will make a networking of politics that will make the government see reasons why they need to upgrade the University into a degree awarding institution for the betterment of my people.
We should know that politics of rascality can never improve the standard of living of the state, rather it can only poison the youth to act in an irresponsible manner. I’m too educated for political rascality. I seek opinions from my people and make sure the politics is being played well to draw the attention of the government to my people’s needs.
What is your message to the voters?
I encourage the voters to remember that Gov. Bello has done wonderfully well, and they still have several projects to be done . Voters should consider that a well-governed administration is better than a rascally one.
Lastly, I thought PDP would have been more organised to read the mood of the people.
In a big state like Kogi, you can’t bring the younger brother of a former governor who has no achievement to rule the state again.
For someone to govern Kogi, he must understand the dicotomy of the state unlike the PDP candidate who knows virtually nothing about the running of the state.
To crown it all, Bello is the best governorship candidate for the election and I assure the people that his second term will be the best in the state.
As the D.G campaign of the governor, have you had a discussion with him over the rotation of power when he leaves in 2023 to Kogi West?
In the first instance, I stopped agitation for power rotation in 2011 because I came to the painful conclusion that those who were in government at that time never developed their community, their communities were filled with extreme poverty, I personally went to some areas and dug borehole there of which I was highly celebrated by the people. I also facilitated a school with over 50 computer systems in areas which weren’t my community, so where the governor hails from doesn’t matter; what matters is the motive of the candidate and his commitment to his people.
I am not against those who want power shift but for me as an individual, I rather prefer competence and merit to power rotation.