Usman Ododo, the Kogi State Governor, on Tuesday, denied a report (not The Informant247) which claimed that his government had approved the establishment of the office of Yahaya Bello, the immediate past governor of the state
A report on Monday claimed that Ododo approved the establishment of Bello’s office to be domiciled in the Government House.
According to the report, the development will give Bello daily access to the running of the state.
However, the governor, while reacting to the report in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Oladele John, on Tuesday, described it as fake, adding that it was the handiwork of “psychotic mischief makers.”
The statement read in part, “The attention of the Kogi State Government has been drawn to a mischievous report that the Governor of Kogi State, His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, has approved the establishment of the “Office of the Immediate Past Governor” to be domiciled in the Government House.
“The fake news should be disregarded as the handiwork of psychotic mischief makers, who have been thrown into confusion by the unprecedented achievements of our former Governor, His Excellency Alhaji Yahaya Bello, CON, and the realisation that the good people of Kogi State sincerely appreciate this.”
Ododo, however, urged the public to disregard the report, saying, “The laughable report was concocted to create disaffection and mislead the public, but the authors failed woefully to confuse intelligent Nigerians.
“We thank the media for exercising restraint and detecting, on their own, that the report was fake.
“We, however, urge the general public to always fact-check before spreading fake news.”
The Informant247 reports that the elected governor of Kogi state, Usman Ahmed Ododo, on Saturday, sworn in as the governor of the state, took complete charge of the state’s administration, marking the end of Yahaya Bello’s eight-year tenure.
At a ceremony held at the Muhammadu Buhari Square, Lokoja, Bello handed over to Ododo.
It was gathered that thousands of residents witnessed the new governor taking the oath of office.
The Informant247 had earlier reported how Prof. Johnson Urama, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nnsuka, declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Usman Ododo as the winner of November 11, Governorship election in Kogi State.
Prof. Urama, while announcing at the INEC state collation centre in Lokoja, the state capital, on Sunday night, said Ododo polled 446,237 to defeat his closest rival, Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who polled 259,052 votes.
Meanwhile, Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came third after scoring 46,362 votes, and Hon. Leke Abejide of the African Democratic Party (ADP) got 21,819 votes to come fourth.