{"id":862,"date":"2021-08-03T11:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T11:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebirareporters.com\/?p=862"},"modified":"2023-05-19T23:33:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T22:33:03","slug":"the-kogi-question-will-gov-bello-cede-power-to-siamese-twin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebirareporters.com\/the-kogi-question-will-gov-bello-cede-power-to-siamese-twin\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kogi Question: Will Gov Bello Cede Power to Siamese Twin?"},"content":{"rendered":"
It does look like everyone in the Kogi state political circle has decided to shy away from the fact that whether we like it or not, someone must succeed Governor Yahaya Bello upon the completion of his second term of office. It is not as if we do not know this fact, but what is glaring is that the actors do not want to have that conversation yet, because of the Presidential ambition of Bello. They do not want to look like they are clouding the ambition of the Sheriff which could sell them out as disloyal, ungrateful and selfish.
\nThese lots are of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state, because the major opposition party, the People\u2019s Democratic Party currently appear comatosely eaten up, and the odds are that it will remain so for a long while. So, for what it\u2019s worth, the fate of governorship hopefuls in the ruling party pitifully hangs on the aspiration of one man, while that of the PDP is determined on if the party wins the next presidential election. Hence, if a public conversation has nothing to do with the slogan \u201cGYB-PYB,\u201d they do not want to have it yet.<\/p>\n
Regardless, not everyone\u2019s fate is in this entanglement. Logically, if we have already started having a 2023 presidential conversation, then we must begin to have that of the next governorship election based on where we are now, antecedents and the standard for choosing our next governor. The issues stare us in the face, and no matter how you run from having the conversation, you will eventually have it. Fact is, you are already having it behind closed doors.<\/p>\n
The Deputy Governor of the state, Edward Onoja is the Siamese twin of Governor Bello. He earned that place and title from when he helped his friend become governor, served as his Chief of Staff and got elevated to his present office. Also nicknamed the Chief Strategist of the New Direction government, Onoja gets the credit for notable achievements and failures of the government alike. Grapevines said so. One of those bells he rang to ears prior the last gubernatorial election is EBIGO \u2013 a slogan which transcends just the summation of first one or two letters from Ebira, Igala and Okun (three major tribes in the state) to form an acronym. While the surface level of the acronym harps on the oneness of the people, there is more six feet below the sea level causing confusion on how power is shared amongst these major tribes, especially as it relates to the number one seat in the state.<\/p>\n
Right now, as far and as much as Kogi state politics is concerned, Governor Yahaya Bello has broken certain jinxes which eventually made him a god amongst men on who gets what, when and how. You cannot argue that fact until you could point at one single other person that could withstand his forces and influences on the field.<\/p>\n
Onoja is a descent of Igala tribe which ruled the state for 16 years before the emergence of Governor Yahaya Bello. The Ebiras had cried of marginalization before Bello emerged. Now, the baton of cry has been shifted to the West, the Okuns. They feel if the Ebiras can, they can do it too. Their only fear is if Governor Bello decides to cede power to his bosom friend and Siamese twin, Onoja, as an appreciation for all of his supports from the grass to their grace.<\/p>\n
The question begging for answer is, will he cede power to Onoja? If he does, the Okuns do not have the numbers to outrun an Onoja whose running mate is from the West, in an election fully sponsored by Governor Bello.<\/p>\n
The odds are that he would emerge the first democratically elected Christian governor in the history of the state. If this happens, the Okuns may have been scammed by the EBIGO slogan which by every logic, should see them taking on that seat in the next dispensation.<\/p>\n