Frontline gubernatorial aspirant in Kogi State, Prince Muhammed Abubakar Audu, has stated that the Governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, must refund the balance of the N50.8 billion bailout fund granted the state into the Federal Government coffers.

In an interview with journalists recently in Lokoja, Prince Audu, stressed that the bailout fund was applied for by the immediate past administration of Captain Idris Wada to pay salary arrears of both the state civil servants and local government workers.

According to him, “The present administration of Governor Bello embarked on a seemingly interminable screening exercise where over 40 percent of the Kogi workforce were said to have been removed from the payroll.

“Even with the reduction in the number of state civil servants and Local Government workers, the Federal Government went ahead to release the bailout funds in order to salvage the pitiable condition of workers caused by Yahaya Bello’s gross mis-governance.”

He added, however, that “apart from the N50.8 billion bailout fund, former governor Wada left two months allocation in the State coffers which Bello inherited. Only God knows what happened to all the huge amount of funds Bello has received since assumption of office as there is nothing in the state to show for it.”

Prince Audu further urged the Federal Government to request what the balance of the bailout was being spent on since the amount Bello has received is far more than enough considering the reduction of the workforce on the payroll through an apparently failed screening exercise in Kogi State.