A member of the House of Representatives and late Prince Abubakar Audu’s running mate in the 21st November gubernatorial polls, Abiodun James Faleke has decried the way the Audu political family was treated by his party after the death of the former Governor and disclosed that the only condition for reconciliation and peace is justice.
He made this known during the first anniversary of the death of the former Governor of Kogi State and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s Governorship election in the state, in Ogbonicha, Ofu Local Government Area of the State.
He said, “There can never be any reconciliation in a situation where somebody works from first day to the last day of the month and another person collects his salary, what can only be the basis for reconciliation is for the salary to be returned, that is the only reconciliation.
“We are prepared to go hungry for the next four years, but I can tell you that God sparing our lives, the song will change surely”.
Speaking further on the crisis rocking the APC in the state, Faleke said every right thinking man knows that it was a fallout of the faulty manner with which the national secretariat of the party handled the crisis after the demise of Audu. He noted that the development had affected the party in the state, lamenting that its fortune had nosedived.
“The architects of the crisis in Kogi state started the imminent downfall of our party, APC. The way and manner the issue of Kogi was handled was least expected of a political party. I have heard that one of the cabals said that APC was just a gathering of some people, not yet a political party,” he said.
“I want to say that as far as what happened in Kogi state is concerned and how it is affecting the party, I am sure those in government in the state can confirm that all is not well within the party in the state because when you worked and some people are benefitting or reaping the fruits of your labour, they will know that all cannot be well and that is why they are not getting their feet right.
“It is one year after Audu and nothing seems to be moving, it has taken the state more than seven to eight months to do screening and pay salary. People have died through queuing or waiting for their names to be screened.
“Those that had been screened have not collected salary since January this year. You can imagine that. Cerrtainly things are very bad, we know how much we spend to maintain our people in the state to keep life moving.
“When people work and at the end of the month they are not paid, you can be sure that nothing can go well. So whatever that goes on in the civil service in the state is also affecting the party.
“What happened to us during the case and when we lost our leader one year ago and all the battles we went through in the legal process, the way and manner the court judgments came, the issues that were determined have shown that we are not in a party yet. As far as am concerned, until the party at the national level wakes up.
“You know that this party was formed by all of us. We contributed to it. It is not an animal farm. It belongs to everybody. Until they realized that, that is the only time that this party can have a foot and can move forward. If our people get paid, if our people are empowered and entrenched, I am sure the songs will change. But as it is now, it is bad bad song”.