Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi
state, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to be mindful of
the civil society organisation accredited to monitor elections.
Some of the CSOs which monitored
Saturday’s governorship and senatorial rerun elections had raised the alarm
over irregularities, citing instances.
But speaking in an interview on
Channels Television, Bello said the organisations that rated the elections
poorly because of violence did not visit enough places or interview many people
before reaching such conclusion.
He said the process was free,
fair and credible, accusing some CSOs of bias.
“The conduct of the election was
quite very credible. A level playing field was provided and it was free and
fair. Of course, in any election, there is bound to be one issue or the other
and you can’t really take pockets of issues to judge the general conduct of the
election,” Bello said.
“Regarding the comments of the
civil society organisations, well, they are entitled to their own opinion but
let us know the parameters with which they are judging this particular
election. How many polling units did they visit out of over 2,548 polling
units, 239 wards and 21 local governments… how many people did they reach out
to. There were over 600,000 votes cast. Did they interview all the voters?
“So, I wouldn’t stop them from
making their opinion but the only advice for the umpire which is INEC is that
when next they are selecting those who are supposed to observe and monitor this
kind of important exercise, I think they should look into the credibility of
some of those people and their antecedents and background.
“I am not denying the fact that
there was pockets of violence, especially in Dekina, but I am asking this
question that out of 21 local governments, 239 wards and 248 polling units, how
many recorded violence? How many of the voters were interviewed before using
the violence in Dekina local government to judge the credibility of the entire
process. I think INEC needs to be given credit.”
Commenting on the payment of
salaries in Kogi, Bello said there is no truth to the claim that the state is
owing its workers.
He said he has cleared salary
backlog, adding that what is left unpaid is the debt he inherited from previous
administrations.
“On the issue of salaries, you
see, all this while, I decide to keep quiet over all these lies that were
peddled in the media about salary being owed or salary not being owed,” he
said.
“Let me tell you, former Governor
Audu left salaries unpaid, Governor Ibrahim Iris left salaries unpaid, my
immediate predecessor left salaries unpaid up to the excess of 5 months… I came
on board inheriting all these liabilities and I strove to solve it.
“As I speak to you today, Kogi
state is not owing any dime, especially at state level. What is left is the 10
percent of the previous administration’s liabilities and we will be clearing
them month by month.”
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