The Kogi State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Engr. Sam Uhuotu has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector General of Police to call Governor Yahaya Bello to order, stating that the Governor has become “a bully who goes about arrogantly issuing threats to the innocent people he swore to protect, thereby creating an atmosphere of fear and tension in the state.”
Uhuotu made the call on Friday at a press conference in Abuja to express the position of the party on the widely circulated controversial speech made by the Governor, and considered threatening ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The PDP Chairman said if Bello is allowed to continue with his activities and threats, he might make it impossible to conduct the 2023 elections in the state.
Some of the elders who accompanied the state Chairman to the conference were former governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, former presidential aide, Chief Olusola Akamode, Col. Tunde Ogbeha (rtd) and former National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan.
They said Bello had resorted to inciting his supporters, threatening to allegedly unleash violence on Nigerians during the 2023 general elections.
The party leaders said they were alarmed by a recent video, in which Bello was heard issuing threats.
“He said I will personally light a fierce fire in my hand; whoever wants it we shall use it to burn them, whoever survives it will thank God.
“The Governor issued this threat on Sunday the 4th of September, 2022 at Ihima, Kogi State, while addressing his loyalists.
“Kogi PDP is worried that Yahaya Bello who is supposed to be the Chief Security Officer of the State, protecting lives and properties has become a bully
The chairman added “the sad narrative of a Woman Leader, Mrs. Salome Abu who was burnt alive in her house during the 2019 Governorship Election, the sudden disappearance of Hon. Adelabu Musa, the PDP Chairman of Okene Local Government Area for over 3 years and still counting, are instructive on the attitude of Governor Yahaya Bello towards the opposition parties in the State.
“This threat of violence and actual violence to Nigerians especially at this time have the capacity to cause a breach of public peace, truncate the 2023 electoral process and derail our democracy.
“The PDP therefore calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately call Governor Yahaya Bello to order and place him and his supporters on security watch list ahead of the 2023 General Elections.”
