I can say with authority that the only strategy and advantage Yahaya Bello had during the eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari was his proximity to the Buhari cabal and that cabal’s open hostility toward President Tinubu, the late Prince Abubakar Audu and Hon. James Abiodun Faleke. That was his entire edge.
I am stating this because of those who keep saying we chanted "Faleke! Faleke!" at the last primary and that Faleke later stepped down. We must not forget the context: at that time, President Tinubu had just won the election but had not yet been inaugurated. The Buhari structure and the cabal were still firmly in control of the presidency.
Today, Yahaya Bello is no longer influential. Why? Because his influence was tied to the Buhari cabal. They ensured that "Tinubu’s men" could not hold key positions and they worked to prevent Tinubu from becoming President.
The reverse is now the case. President Tinubu is not only in office, but his loyalists are in charge, especially Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, the same man who was denied the Kogi governorship.
Today, you can point to federal appointments from Kogi East, Kogi Central and Kogi West. The majority of those appointments were facilitated by Hon. Abiodun Faleke.
In Kogi State, but, the story is different. Under Yahaya Bello and Governor Usman Ododo, over 90% of the key positions are concentrated in just one or two LGAs in Kogi Central.
We have the Governor, Chief of Staff, Accountant General, Commissioner for Local Government, and nearly all the "functional" commissioners from one zone.
That is not leadership. That is tribalism.
That is lopsided development.
That is why the APC is losing ground in Kogi today.
Hon. James Abiodun Faleke, as the leader of the Audu/Faleke political family, Hon. Prince Shaibu Abubakar Audu, Minister of Steel Development and Prof. Isa Daniel, Deputy Director Organizing of the APC, are now re-strategizing.
Today, if you speak to 100 APC members in Kogi, they will tell you two things:
1. They support President Tinubu because he is carrying Kogi East, Kogi West and Kogi Central along in federal appointments.
2. They believe in the Faleke/Audu political structure.
So to those saying "Faleke cannot contest" or "no one can challenge the supremacy", that power they once enjoyed is gone. The evidence is clear: they no longer have it their way.
We commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his team for paying close attention to Kogi affairs.
How can those who parade themselves as "supreme leaders" not even produce a single Senator from their zone?
The only opposition Senator from Kogi today comes from Kogi Central. The same "supreme leader" from Kogi Central could not deliver Kogi for Tinubu in 2023, even as a sitting governor. That is a paper supreme leader.
I say it with authority: Kogi State will soon be liberated from the grip of tyranny.
Umar Isah
Head of Media
Audu/Faleke Political Family
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