In This Piece, Newsbar247’S Adebamwo Olatunji Unfolds The Story Behind The Travails Of The Kogi State Deputy Governor, Simon Achuba.
It Would Be Recalled That The Ibaji-Born Politician Cried Foul Yesterday Of Being Denied His Wages, Which He Claimed Run Into Hundreds Of Millions Of Naira.
His Lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, Wrote The State Government, Demanding The Payment Of Those Wage Claims , Failure Of Which He Said Will Lead To Litigation For Redress.
Due To The High Profile Status Of The Story, Our Team Of Investigative Journalists Led By Adebamwo Olatunji Swung Into Action To Unravel The Story Behind The Lost Love Between Achuba And His Boss, Yahaya Bello.

Excerpts

How They Started

Simon Achuba Became The Deputy Governor Of Kogi State When The Elected Deputy Governor, Hon. Abiodun James Faleke Declined To Fill The Position Following The Emergence Of Yahaya Bello After The Demise Of Prince Abubakar Audu.
Faleke Felt He Should Have Been Declared Governor Instead Of Drafting In Yahaya Bello To Complete The Election.
Faleke Dragged The Governor To The Tribinal And Up To The Supreme Court. Yahaya Bello Won All The Cases.
Analysts Believed The Emergence Of Simon Achuba Was Facilitated By Chief Edward David Onoja, Chief Of Staff To The Governor Who Is Known In Kogi Political Circles As “The White Oracle” Following His Political Exploits As A Strategist.
In The Early Days Of The Administration, Achuba Wielded Significant Influence, Owing To His Age And Political Experience As A Former Principal Officer In The State Legislature. The Governor Relied Heavily On His Counsel On Major Policies And Programs Of Government.

The Twist

Inside Sources Told Newsbar247 That Crisis Started Owing To Two Major Reasons.
One, The Governor Got Disappointed That The Deputy Governor Didn’t Make Much Impact On His People Despite The Several Hundreds Of Millions Paid To Him.
An Ibaji Man, Philip Arome Who Spoke With Our Reporters Said The Deputy Governor Can Not Point To A Single Project Done By Him.
“He Has No Impact Here. He Was Traveling Around The World When He Should Have Concentrated On Governance. We Saw What Others Are Facilitating To Their Places And Even Other Places. He Has Not Done A Single Borehole For Us Here.
“The Sad Thing Was That People Thought We Are Having It Rosy Here. We Have Not Benefited Anything From Him. Look At What Edward Onoja Is Doing For The Igala People. Roads, Water And Now The Governor Has Made Him The Chairman Of A Committee To Bring Electricity To Igalaland. Leadership Is Nothing Without Impact. Achuba Was A Disgrace To Us Here”.
Though There Has Been Heavy Silence In Government Circles About The Latest Achuba Challenge, Analysts Believe The Governor Is Prepared To Be Patient To See Out The Tenure With Achuba.
The Second Reason Behind His Travails Was His Blatant Disloyalty To The Governor And The All Progressives Congress.
Prior To The Defection Of Alh. Atiku Abubakar To The People’s Democratic Party, Sources Said Achuba Was “In Close Contact” With The Former Vice President.
That Didn’t Go Well With Governor Yahaya Bello, A Major Backer Of President Muhammadu Buhari. Keen Watchers Of The Nigerian Politics Knew The President And Governor Bello Enjoys A Father-Son Relationship.
Therefore, For His Deputy To Be Openly Fraternizing With The Opposition; The Governor Considered It An Act Of Disloyalty.
Some Key Aides Of The Deputy Governor Were Also Found To Be Disloyal To The Administration In Which They Were Serving.
Also, There Were Allegations Against The Deputy Governor That He Was Demanding For Bribes From Contractors Handling Projects In His Area, A Development Considered To Be Antithetical To The Ideology Of The Yahaya Bello Administration.

Achuba’s Whereabouts

The Major Talk On The Streets Of Lokoja, The Kogi State Capital Has Been About The Whereabouts Of The Deputy Governor Who Has Not Been Seen At Any State Function For Close To A Year Now.
An ICT Guru Based In Lokoja Who Craved Anonymity Said The Deputy Governor Might Have Been Cut Off By The New Payment System In The State That Involves Biometric Data Capturing.
“I Don’t Know Why He Has Not Been Paid. But The Reality Is That We Don’t Even Know Whether We Have A Deputy Governor In Kogi State Because He Has Abandoned His Duties For Over A Year Now. He Doesn’t Come To The Office And He Doesn’t Attend Any Public Function. The Only Time We Hear About Him Was Whenever He Wanted To Attack Government.
“This May Be An Unhealthy Situation And His Letter Coming A Day After The Release Of The Bailout Meant For Workers’ Salaries Has Not Projected Him Well.
“Even The Governor Did Biometric Data Capturing To Qualify Him For Payment. I Am Not Sure The Deputy Governor Was Around To Do Same. I Will Advise Achuba To Thread Softly On This Issue. How Can He Be Asking For Salaries When He Didn’t Work?”
An Aide To The Deputy Governor Told Newsbar247 That He Was Not Permitted To Speak On The Issue. When Prompted Further, He Said The Deputy Governor Has Done What Is Lawful By Demanding For His Wages.
“He Remains The Deputy Governor Of The State And Should Be Paid His Wages. As Long As He Is Still The Deputy Governor, He Deserves His Pay.
“I Will Urge The Relevant Authorities To Resolve The Issues Amicably”, He Said.

Political Implications
While Some Pundits Are Of The View That The Governor Should Avoid All Crisis And Harvest All Supports Ahead Of The Governorship Poll In The State, Others Are Of The View That The Deputy Governor Had No Impact In The Last Election. It Was Alleged That Despite The Deputy Governor’s Open Support For The People’s Democratic Party In The 2019 General Elections, The All Progressives Congress Won His LGA.
A Source Told Our Reporters That The Achuba Factor Doesn’t Determine The Ibaji Politics Anymore As The Governor Is Said To Have Altered The Political Architecture Of The Area.
When Contacted, The Director General Of Media And Publicity To The Governor, Evangelist Kingsley Fanwo Refused To Comment On The Issue.
The Last Might Not Have Been Heard Of The Rift Between The Governor And His Deputy.

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