The deputy governor of Kogi state Elder Simon Achuba has raised alarm over threat to his life by Governor Yahaya Bello, who is seeking a second term in office.
Mr. Achuba claimed that gunmen, on the instruction of Governor Bello, were out to kill him, adding that the plans were no secret.
He said his family, aides and friends were also targets of this assassination plan by the governor.
In an interview with journalists on Thursday at his official residence in Lokoja, he urged the Presidency and security agencies to come to his rescue.
But, the governor has since denied the allegations calling for evidence of this purported assassination.
The deputy governor said the insecurity in the state is not about kidnapping and armed robbery, but about gunmen in government.
He warned against the prevalence of intimidation and the atmosphere of fear that pervades, alleging that gunmen have been mobilised to attack him.
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Inspector General of Police, and the Director State Security Service of planned attack on him, his aides, family members and workers.
The deputy governor called on them to turn their focus on Kogi, saying that the rift between him and Bello, is about the issue of performance.
He said the listing of payment of salaries as achievements means government is not working.
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Achuba added that payment of salaries is not an achievement but a duty of the government.
He said that complain about the nonpayment of his salaries was earlier played up, pointing out that the non-release of impress to his office, which come with salaries of aides and workers attached to his office, was uncalled for.
He, however, thanked the governor for the opportunity to serve.
In a statement yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary, Onogwu Mohammed, the government described the report as bogus and an exhibition of a blind rage by an angry suckling with a long-term pattern of abnormal behaviour characterised by exaggerated feelings of self-importance. ,
“The Kogi State Government is appalled that a deputy governor, who should epitomise leadership and good example in all senses, could descend so low to employ smear campaign against the person of His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello and we state without equivocation that Mr. Achuba has no shred of evidence for his reckless surmising, which is nothing but a scripted venture in ruinous adventure.
“We do not train assassins, (and) as such, the state government or her personnel cannot be involved in sending assassins to murder any human soul let alone a deputy governor of our dear state.”
“Despite these unsubstantiated ramblings, however, we deemed it fit to clear the air by letting the general public know that the Kogi State Government would not be dragged into any form of political gerrymandering concocted for the furtherance of any person’s political interest or notoriety.”
The state government challenged Achuba to bring evidence of his claims or desist from making further spurious allegations.
