Kogi Journalists Knock Governor Ododo Over Exclusion in Media Aides’ Appointments
By Ozumi Abdul
Kogi Central Journalists’ Guild, an umbrella body of Kogi Central journalists in the diaspora, has berated Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for totally excluding members of their association, in the appointments he has made so far, since assuming office.
The group made their displeasure known in a statement signed by the association’s secretary, Ozumi Abdul, on Sunday.
The association questioned the modalities the governor used in making his most recent appointments of Special Advisers (SAs), and Senior Special Assistants (SSAs), without picking any of their members.
It reminded Governor Ododo of the huge sacrifices and contributions of their members not just in enthroning his government, but also projecting the affairs of his government.
The association warned that failing to reward people who worked for him to be elected as Kogi governor is a recipe for disloyalty.
According to the group, its secretary, Ozumi Abdul, was the first journalist that drummed for the support for the governor to be unanimously picked as APC candidate, even before the party’s governorship primary in April, last year.
“You can’t delete or deny history. It’s in history that it’s our secretary, Ozumi Abdul that first drummed support for Governor Ododo to be picked unanimously by the APC before its primary election on 15th, April 2023, in an article titled, ‘Why Ododo Thicks All The Boxes As Bello Successor’.
Read Also:
“The said article was published by a leading Abuja-based online political newspaper, POLITICS DIGEST on 13th, April, 2023, and the primary election was held two days later, on 15th April,2023.
“Not to talk of our other members and veterans, like Omeiza Ajayi of Vanguard, and Abdulsalam Muhammed, who had at various times pulled fantastic PR stunts for the governor before his emergence and his government.
“Saka Raji, the publisher of Arewa Trust Newspaper in particular wrote a PR inclined book for the governor before his emergence, titled: ‘The Principles And Practice Of Ododoism.
“It’s however surprising that an ethnic group that boasts of these pull of talents, where the governor comes from is overlooked in the appointments of his CPS and media aides.
“The most laughable and mocking of it all is that the governor upon his assumption of office, in his very first day picked a man without journalism or PR background as his Chief Press Secretary. The said man’s background is student unionism and advocacy. Then we ask, who adviced the governor to toe that erroneous administrative path in his very first day, when Ebira nation boasts of seasoned and veteran professionals?
“We ask again, is it that we are the proverbial angels who are not valued at home, but valued away from home, because it’s surprising we were also neglected by the immediate past administration of Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and still suffering the same fate in this government?, the statement reads in part.
The association also frowned at the governor’s recycling of his successor’s aides, who it said had fed gluttonously in the previous government without contributing meaningfully to it.
