Desperation? El-Rufai kneels, begs Kogi voters to forgive Bello

In a move that suggests desperation, the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, on Thursday, knelt before the electorate in Kogi State, begging them to forgive Governor Yahaya Bello for whatever he had done wrong.

Joining El-Rufai in kneeling to beg the people was the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, who knelt down next to El-Rufai.

Bello, who is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not join them.

There have been widespread discontent with the performance of Bello in his first tenure which expires in January, especially civil servants who were made to go through a never ending verification process and several months of unpaid salaries.

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The Kaduna, who begged the people of the state while addressing a crowd at the APC rally in Lokoja, noted that Bello was young when he became governor and had made many mistakes.

Apparently alluding to the fact that Bello failed in his first tenure, el-Rufai said he had since retraced his steps.

He said: “Many people say Yahaya Bello is young; that he has fought many people. For every one that the governor has offended, I’m asking all of you to forgive him. He is young; he is supposed to make mistakes. When you are young, you make mistakes but you learn from them.

“On his behalf, I’m kneeling down, to beg all of you to forgive Yahaya Bello if he has offended you. He cares about the people of Kogi State. He cares about this state. He has brought progress to this state; he has brought young people and women into government.

“He has cleared salary arrears that he inherited from previous governments. You must all come out to support him. I beg you all. Let us make history. The Late Prince Audu did everything to bring progress to this state. Let us not dishonour his memory by allowing PDP to return to Lugard House.”

According to him, the Peoples Democratic Party did nothing in the state during its 13-year rule, declaring the opposition party dead.

“In the last four years, the progress recorded by Governor Yahaya Bello in the last four years is more than what the PDP has tried to do in 13 years”, he said.

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