Senator Dino Melaye has told the Nigerian Senate that the governor of his home state, Kogi, Yahaya Bello, is secretly importing military wares, guns and some other harmful items into the country.
Disclosing this during the plenary on Thursday, Melaye posited that he got the revelation as a result of the private investigation he made in the state.
According to Melaye, “Mr President, due to my private investigation I got a very serious revelation yesterday and I am so happy that a committee has been constituted by the Senate as being headed by lawmaker representing Delta West, Senator James Manager.”
He also added that “the items which include: sewn military camouflages with bola hats, many bullet proof vests, night vision googles, tactical boots, tactical knapsacks, training canvas, boxing gloves, etc, were intercepted by the Nigerian Customs because they did not come with end user certificates.
“The items were intercepted by the Nigerian Customs because they did not come with end user certificates. When you are bringing military equipment into the country they must come with end user certificate certified by the National Security Adviser.
“Upon seizure of these items, one Jerry Omadara, who is the S.A security to governor of Kogi State went to the Customs officers and told them that the items belonged to the Kogi state government and even gave them his complimentary card. Jerry Omadara presented himself physically before Customs.”
Melaye further disclosed that his findings brought up the name of the company that imported these items and that it is connected to the state government.
He added: “I have done a search in the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) which have revealed the owners of the company connected to Kogi State government. These items as I speak detention notice is on them.
“Up to the morning, these items are with NACO at the airport here in Abuja. Mr. President, I thereby move that the vibrant committee constituted this morning under the chairmanship of James Manager move to the airport to make sure that these items are there and not moved and properly investigated. I said before that militias we’re being equipped by the Kogi State government.
“I believe the committee will unravel the mystery behind this seizure. A situation where a governor is already importing military uniforms and other gadgets when he is not a contractor in the ministry of defence is dangerous trend and the Senate was right when it said Yahaya Bello is a threat to democracy.”
The Senate therefore referred the matter for investigations to ad-hoc committee investigating the alleged assault by Governor Bello on Sen. Ahmed Ogembe.
The committee is headed by Senator representing Delta West, James Manager and other members are Senators: Adeola Olamilekan, Kabir Marafa, Jeremiah Useni, Chukwuka Utazi and Mathew Urhogide.