Jemibewon Denies Endorsing Yahaya Bello

Former military governor of the Old Western States, Maj-Gen. David Jemibewon (rtd) has denied the purported endorsement of Governor Yahaya Bello by Kogi West leaders saying that the issue of a second term for the governor did not come up during their recent interaction with him.

Jemibewon, a former minister of police affairs said that as a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP he was conscious of expectations from party members towards him.

The elder-statesman spoke in an interview with The Nation.

According to him, leaders of Kogi West Elders Forum (KWEF) were only invited to a meeting with Bello on how to move the state forward.

He said:

“I went to the meeting for the good of my community(Kogi West). I went for the discussion on invitation and we did not talk of endorsement at the meeting. I could not have endorsed Governor Yahaya Bello of APC for second term.

“At my age, I am not looking for any favour . I am a member of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), even though it is not terribly serious, and to come out to say I adopt anybody is a kind of anti-party activity.

“At this stage of my life, I do not want to be accused of anti-party activities. As a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, I did not endorse Governor Bello.”

Faulting the communique released at the end of the meeting, he said:

“The way the communiqué was formulated was embarrassing, it was not circulated at the meeting. I did suggest they should send  the communiqué to a former Attorney-General of the Federation,  Chief Bayo Ojo for vetting. The word endorsement, I cannot remember hearing it from anybody at the meeting.

“We were invited to meet with the governor and as a leader, I won’t say I don’t want to see him. “We thought we were non-partisan.  We talked about security, payment of salaries and political appointments. Not a single word was used to indicate endorsement and I did not endorse Bello.

“I am still in PDP, I remain committed to the party.”

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