A sociopolitical group in Kogi State, Okun Development Initiative (ODI) has condemned and dissociated the Okun speaking people from the opinion expressed by the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Matthew Kolawole that the next governor should come from amongst Governor Yahaya Bello’s kinsmen.
The Speaker had at a Stakeholders’meeting yesterday thanked Governor Bello for his projects in Kabba, appealing for another Ebira man to continue the job.
He said: “I will, therefore, [bowing down] plead with your Excellency to bring someone among your kinsmen in your senatorial district to be your successor in 2023 so that he may continue the good works you have done.”
The statement stired an uproar at the Glass House as the Speaker was shouted down by the crowd, hence preventing him from continuing his speech.
In reaction, ODI in a statement described the speaker’s opinion as “unfortunate and unpatriotic.
“We hereby dissociate ourselves from the opinion of the Speaker, who has not only misrepresented the good people of Okun nation, but has at best, misfired.
“On behalf of the good people of Okunland, we wish to state categorically that the opinion expressed in support of another governor in the year 2024 by Speaker Kolawole is selfishly motivated, ill conceived and represents the narrow mindedness of an untutored and uncultured Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly. Our position is Okunman For Governor in the year 2024.”
