LOCKED in a battle with Senator Dino Melaye, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, on Wednesday advised the upper chamber of the National Assembly to get rid of deviants from amongst its rank. Speaking to State House correspondents after a meeting with acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he observed that the Senate was a respectable institution that should not accommodate such characters. He said they must be purged in order the preserve the dignity and respect of the institution. The governor said, “Then talking of the Senate,
let me rather admonish the Senate that that is an institution that is held in a very high esteem and I think the Senate and indeed the National
Assembly is made up of men of high calibre and
of high integrity and good character. “I think it is necessary that that wonderful house should as matter of urgency and as a matter of fact, check any social deviant that exists within
them before they could be adjudged birds of the same feather. I know they are not of the same feather.” Speaking about Melaye with whom he has a political rift, he alleged that his opponent has no “proper parental care and upbringing,” noting that it was not surprising the way he has continued to behave in the Senate. Asked to speak on the rift, Bello stated: “You see, I would rather admonished Nigerians that when a child lacks proper parental care and home upbringing, he constitutes social menace in the society. “And if the society does not take steps to check and correct such a child, they can turn into criminals and take into criminality then it will be left to government to check such criminality. And if government does not, such a child can cause a
serious embarrassment. That is what is happening in Kogi State.” On allegations by Senator Melaye that he earmarked N1 billion to facilitate his recall from the Senate, the governor dismissed it as a figment of the senator’s imagination. “That is his own figment of his imagination. The good people of Okunland and indeed West senatorial district have learnt from a bitter mistake of not taming and curbing that social deviant and they have decided to take lawful steps in recalling him,” he said. Bello, who said he was at the Presidential Villa to brief the acting President on development in the state, saying that Kogi State was peaceful, contrary to the alleged propaganda by Senator Melaye. He added: “I came to brief the Acting President of development in my state. We all know Mr President is taking a rest and the men at the helm of affairs needs to be periodically briefed. “He is pleased with the development in Kogi
State. When reminded of the recent crisis in the state, he insisted, “There is no crisis in Kogi State. We are living in peace and harmony. But sincerely, Kogi State is living in peace; projects are ongoing, we are all happy over there, salaries are being paid as at when due and we are making serious progress.