Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State and his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello are at loggerheads.
Gov. Yahaya got into fight with Gov. Udom after the latter condemned the ongoing recall process of the senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Senator Dino Melaye, in Akwa-Ibom at the venue of an empowerment programme organised by Senator Godswill Akpabi where Melaye was a guest.
Read also: I ‘m the best federal lawmaker of all times, says Melaye
Udom also expressed surprise at the ongoing efforts to recall Melaye saying the senator was performing and described him as a general.
His comment, however, outraged Bello who is at war with Melaye.
And in a statement released by the Director-General, media and publicity to the governor, Kingsley Fanwo, Gov. Bello chided Udom.
The statement reads in part, “We believe that Governor Emmanuel’s unveiled disdain for a long-suffering people trudging the booby-trapped path to Recall of their Senator in a bid to recover their dignity is uncalled for.
“Governor Udom’s scathing rebuke for Kogi West people who are engaged in legal pursuit of their legitimate aspiration to terminate irresponsible representation goes against all democratic norms. It also does gratuitous violence to the customary esprit de corps which ordinarily ought to actuate the conduct of brother Governors and States towards one another in the Nigerian polity.
“…Now it is clear that Governor Udom Emmanuel seems to like our vacuous Senator so much, we would be much obliged if Akwa Ibom will take him off our hands for good. We can negotiate details of his transfer before the applicable windows close. Since Akwa Ibom receives several times the FAAC allocations accruing to Kogi State (we do not here question the equity of it, just stating basic facts), and since Senator Dino Melaye is a self-confessed butcher and sharer of elephants, there is no doubt that Akwa Ibom’s elephantine financial receipts will indeed be more to his taste.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the good people of Kogi West, having decided they have had enough of Senator Dino Melaye’s selfish brand of misrepresentation, and having undertaken to tread this slippery slope to self-respect have the support of not just all of us in Kogi State, but of all Nigerians of goodwill, including upstanding Akwa Ibomites. We therefore urge our brother, the still very much respected Governor of our brother State, Akwa Ibom, to show more sensitivity in his future utterances.”
