Yahaya Bello Accuses US Of Partisanship, Protests Visa Ban
Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has accused US authorities of being partisan following the visa restrictions placed on Nigerians who stoked violence and election rigging in the Kogi and Bayelsa governorship polls.
The US, in its announcement on Monday, did not name the affected individuals.
The governor, however, protested what he called US interference in a letter signed by the Secretary of the State Government Folashade Ayoade and dated September 16.
Bello noted that the state is only bothered by the timing of the visa ban and the mention of the Kogi elections.
He also stated that the regrettable incidents at the polls were limited to a few polling units, insisting that larger portions of the ballot were free, fair and credible.
Part of the letter read: “For the most part, we concede that elections in Nigeria are complex affairs which will continue to require improvements for the foreseeable future. The 2019 Kogi State gubernatorial election was also not without its challenges. However, it is also crystal clear from critical and composite analyses of the records (official, media, observers, etc) of the November 16, 2020 polls that regrettable incidents were limited to a few polling units, while the overwhelmingly larger portions of the ballot were free, fair and credible…
The inference from your timing is that the judgment is somehow tainted and did not meet the justice of the case, thereby casting aspersions, not only on the Nigerian judiciary, but on the second term mandate freely bestowed on His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello by the good people of Kogi State.â€
Bello said the Supreme Court ruling vindicated him of allegation that the election was rigged.
