By Ken Afor
The newly sworn-in Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, has debunked a report suggesting that the government approved the establishment of the office of the immediate past governor, for Yahaya Bello.
It would be recalled that on Monday, social media was abuzz with reports claiming that Governor Ododo had approved the creation of his predecessor’s office, which would be operational in the Government House.
The report claimed that the office would provide Bello with daily access to the state’s affairs.
But, in a statement released on Tuesday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Oladele John, the governor dismissed it as fake news, attributing it to “psychotic mischief makers.” He urged the public to disregard the report.
According to the statement, “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.”
“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.”
TheNewDiplomat had earlier reported that Ododo was sworn in as the fifth executive Governor of Kogi State last Saturday.
Ododo, a candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ododo was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the November 11 governorship election.
He secured victory with 446,237 votes, surpassing his closest rival Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) who polled 259,052, and Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who garnered 46,362 votes.
