Kogi's Governor Bello offers 11 churches N7m handout despite owing civil servants massive salary arrears

GOVERNOR Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has offered 11 churches in the state a N7m ($19,300) pre-election sweetener which he claimed was to assist them with the ongoing infrastructural work they are carrying out on their numerous buildings.

In a surprise move yesterday, Governor Bello donated N2m to the Christ the King Catholic Church, Okene and N500,000 each to other churches in the Kogi Central Senatorial District. Alhaji Abdulmalik Abdulkarim, the director-general of the Kogi State Bureau of Information and Grassroots Sensitisation, said Governor Bello made the donations during a service to round-off the centenary celebration of the Christ the King Catholic Church, Okene.

Governor Bello, who was the special guest of honour at the event, congratulated the church  on its 100 years of existence in Ebiraland and pledged to donate a coaster bus to aid its evangelism project. He commended the past and present leadership of the church for their immense contributions to peace and harmony in Ebiraland and urged other churches to emulate this act by preaching the gospel of love, peace, unity and religious tolerance.

According to Alhaji Abdulkarim, the other benefiting churches include Gospel Assembly Church, Adavi, Mountain Crusader Church, Adavi; St Andrew Anglican Church, Okene; Deeper Life Church, Obehira and St Paul Anglican Church, Okengwe. Others are Christ Apostolic Church, Okehi; St Peter Anglican Church, Ihima; Gospel Assembly Church, Eganyi; First Baptist Church Ajaokuta and Catholic Church, Ogori.

Reverend Father Ezekiel Awolumate, the parish priest of the Christ the King Catholic Church, commended the governor for his personal presence at the centenary celebrations. In his speech, Dr Ado Ibrahim, the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, called on the church to continue to pray for divine guidance and protection, for the governor, for the people of Ebiraland and the state in general.

Reverend Father Ododo Jude, the dean of  Okene Deanery of the Catholic Church, on behalf of other churches thanked the governor for the donations and urged him continue to work for the progress and development of the state.

Kogi is one of the states in Nigeria that owes its civil servants a backlog of salary arrears and over the summer, Governor Bello cleared some of the debts, paying workers 60% of four months salaries. A key ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, the governor is a major member of his re-election campaign team but will struggle to deliver Kogi unless the arrears problem is sorted out.

Governor Bello, who lives in Nigeria's federal capital Abuja and governs the state from there, has one of the lowest internally generated revenues of the country's 36 states. Like many other governors, he is highly dependent on the federal government monthly allocation to keep Kogi State afloat.