Senator Melaye,

Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has distanced himself from reports emanating from the Senate that he was having a “running battle” with Senator Dino Melaye, Senator Representing Kogi West, insisting that his responsibility is to reposition the state and not to engage people in “unnecessary rift”.
Speaking through his Director General on Media and Strategy, Kingsley Fanwo, Governor Bello said he has been working closely with people who are not “averse to the progress of the state”, insisting that his administration will be undaunted by the “recklessness in certain quarters to create a fiction of war”.
“While it is in order to condemn assassination attempt on anyone; it amounts to official recklessness to make wanton allegations and move before the conclusion of police investigations to point accusing fingers at targeted personalities. The sponsored orchestrated attempt at maligning the person of the Governor is unfortunate and an institution as respected as the Senate should never have knelt before the alters of frivolities and character assassination.
“The Governor is unperturbed by the script play which tended to paint Dino innocent and every other person guilty. As much as we can’t buy into the exculpatory theory of anyone; it is hasty and an unpardonable prejudice to accuse innocent people based on bias. The Police has been highly professional under the present leadership and will surely unravel the real culprits. Police cannot be intimidated by desperate folks who are majoring in the minor and minoring in the major.”
Fanwo said it is untrue that the Governor is battling with Dino Melaye, insisting that such is unnecessary and a “clear antithesis of the ideals of the present New Direction Administration in the state.”
“The Senate should note that it is Senator Dino Melaye who is fighting the Governor and not the other way round. He said the Governor has not paid workers for 15 months and made subterranean moves to incite the public against government. We have published what we paid workers from January 2016 to March 2017, month by month, worker by worker. He accused government of closing down schools but later found out who is actually responsible for the industrial action. Despite their failure to resume work, we have continued to pay tertiary institutions staff. Melaye should apologize to the people of the state for his unsuccessful attempt at making the state ungovernable.
“No degree of falsehood and propaganda can derail the march of the present administration to continue to deliver democracy dividends to the people of the state. When the Sultan of Sokoto came to commission the architectural masterpieces of the Revenue House and the SDG Building, he was criticized by Senator Dino Melaye. Was he ashamed that all his misinformation about Kogi was debunked by the global attention on Kogi that week? Road projects are ongoing in all the Senatorial Districts of the State and we are repositioning our health and educational infrastructures. Agriculture is becoming the life wire of the state as well as tourism.

We have raised our IGR for over 300% and the Kogi people are happy to be witnessing unprecedented development. We have trained and empowered thousands of youth in the state to divorce them from thuggery and we don’t expect employers of thugs to be happy that we depopulated their pools. We have raised the ante against insecurity and have not only equipped the security agents to fight, we have pulled down buildings that are proceeds of criminality. We have no reason to fight Dino.”