Succession tussle: Kogi Speaker booed for calling on Bello to handover to another Ebira man

The Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mathew Kolawole on Tuesday got what he least bargained for at the stakeholders meeting which held at the Lugard House, Lokoja as he was booed for calling on governor Yahaya Bello to allow another Ebira man from the Central Senatorial district to succeed him.

Kolawole who is in the second term Speaker in the State legislature made his position known with regards to the next year’s governorship election which Yahaya Bello was expected to hand over to his successor.

Bello had invited stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a ruling party in the State, to discuss how best the party could be delivered in 2023 general election.

The Speaker, who is from the western Senatorial district of Kogi State went out of his way from the agenda of the day to talk about Bello’s successor, which in his notion should come from Kogi Central Senatorial district.

He stated this when he was asked to respond on behalf of the appointees, he stood up and eulogised the governor and his achievements, saying Kogi has never had so good and then bowed before the governor to beg him to bring his successor from his among his kinsmen

“Your Excellency, you have done what no governor has done before in terms of achievements and touching of lives of the people, if I begin to outline your achievements we may not leave here today and think the chairman that spoke before me has done justice to that,” he stated.

“In Kogi West senatorial district especially you have done marvelously; you built the first flyover bridge at Ganaja junction, Lokoja, in Kabba town, which is the headquarters of the district, when Adamu Attah, an Ebira, was governor, he built the Kabba-Okene road. Your Excellency too an Ebiraman also constructed the kabba town ship road, we have never had it so good.

“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.”

This elicited serious emotion which caused a no small stir as the audience began to boo him calling him all sorts of names and ordered him to sit down if he had no better things to say.

The whole hall became so rowdy that police men and other security agents had to be called in to appeal to the people to calm down.

Majority of the people in the state believe that power should now shift to Kogi west senatorial district where the Speaker hails from because the Igala who are in the Eastern senatorial district have ruled the state for over 18 years while the Ebira from the central senatorial district are to complete their eight years in office by January 2024

A stakeholder said: “Kolawole should have buried his head in shame, how can the party Reps candidate who needs the votes of his people publicly go against the interest of the same people who wants to vote for ? This is shameful and he has to apologise to Okun people.”

Meanwhile, Kolawole is in serious disarray as his name did not make up in the INEC lists of candidates to contest for 2023 general election. His name was omitted in the INEC portal which made him to seek for redress to compel INEC to upload his name but the court refused his prayers.

By the omission of his name and the final release of candidates names, political pundits said the APC may not have any candidate for the Kabba Bunu Ijumu Federal Constituency seat and this may have sealed the fate of the Speaker.

Kolawole’s call on Yahaya Bello to pick a successor from Ebira land was undoubtedly against some political stakeholders from his Senatorial district who have been lobbying for the district to produce Yahaya Bello’s successor.

CAPITAL POST had reported that few weeks ago, stakeholders from the Western Senatorial district visited some political stakeholders in the Eastern Senatorial district to lobby for support for the West to produce Bello’s successor in 2023.