Former Kogi State governor, Prince Abubakar Audu, has reiterated his commitment to develop the state amidst calls for his return as governor in next year’s governorship election in the state.
He expressed his willingness to heed to the calls for him to contest the governorship election in an interview in Abuja, weekend.
“This time the electorates said it is time we bring Audu back. If one is a regular visitor to Kogi at the Koton Karfe Bridge, he will see a billboard where the masses are crying, saying: ‘Where is Audu?’ So as far, as I am concerned, it is the first step to bring me back and convincing me to come back.”
Audu was the Kogi State governor between 1999 and 2003 when the then PDP candidate, Ibrahim Idris, defeated him and went on to complete two terms in office.
But Audu said his ouster from office was not achieved through the ballot box, insisting it was the federal might that spearheaded his defeat in the election.
“They brought Air Force personal from their base and the military from their barracks in Lokoja which harassed and killed. For the first time, I saw military personnel carrying ballot boxes. That was how they rigged us out in 2003.”
The former governor lamented that Kogi State was left where it was in 2003 when he departed office, with no visible attempt by successive PDP administrations to develop it. He said that the signs of underdevelopment were obvious to any regular visitor to the state to see.
On the president-elect, Buhari, Audu said Nigerians were lucky to have elected the former head of state as president because of his known trait as a disciplined leader, adding that the country would witness rapid development within the next few years.
