Onoja.
By Nafisat Abdurahman
Former Deputy Governor of Kogi, Edward Onoja, has said that for four years, former Gov. Yahaya Bello, had been assuring him that he would succeed him, but changed his mind a day before the governorship primary elections.
Onoja disclosed this during an interview on MIC ON Podcast on Saturday night, while recounting his political journey and relationship with Bello.
Onoja had served as Bello’s Chief of Staff during the latter’s first tenure before becoming deputy governor during the second tenure.
“Four years before 2023, he was the one who called me and said, ‘You will succeed me, get prepared.
“And of course, I planned, I worked, and when it was time, he gave all of us the opportunity to contest,” Onoja said.
According to him, about seven cabinet members at the time, including himself, picked up the All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination forms on Bello’s directive, but in the end, Bello endorsed the current governor, Ahmed Ododo.
“At the end of the day, his heart and his choice was with the current governor, His Excellency, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo,” he said.
Onoja revealed that Bello broke the news to him just a day before the party primaries, a decision he respected despite his disappointment.
“When he broke the news to me a day before the primaries, I told him, ‘You are the boss, you are over me, what you see is what I see, so let’s go get the job done, but I hope you are not making a mistake.
“There were no issues, and then we went to the field and did our best for our candidate,” he stated.
Onoja, who is now a board member of the South-East Development Commission (SEDC), emphasised that despite the turn of events, he remained committed to ensuring Ododo’s victory.
