Lokoja
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has stated what a single Nigerian looted from the treasury was enough to complete the Ajaokuta Steel Development Company.
The Governor stated this in Lokoja yesterday while receiving the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and the members of the House Committee on Steel Development along with the Minister of State for Steel Development, Abubakar Bawa Bwari.
The Committee is in the State in a fact-finding mission on the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
According to the Governor, what the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission recovered from a single looter is enough to complete the Ajaokuta Steel Company.
“What we need to complete the Ajaokuta Steel is the political will. When we have the will, funding will be easy. The EFCC has collected what is required to complete the project from a single looter.
“Speaker has shown leadership and readiness to support federal government’s initiatives toward economic renaissance. We thank President Muhammadu Buhari for showing concern for the completion of what is potentially the biggest Steel Company in Africa” the governor said.
Governor Bello said Dogara has given him encouragement to continue
to represent the youth positively in the corridors of power, assuring the Speaker that he will not disappoint him and other youth across the country.
Earlier, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dogara hailed the wonderful relationship between the executive and the legislature in the State, saying the two arms are in place to support each other for effective governance.
“I have told the Minister of State for Steel Development that the reason Ajaokuta Steel had been moribund was because of lack of leadership rather than fund. Development around the world is driven by leadership.
“Nigeria enjoys such highly respected leadership. The international litigations that had held Ajaokuta Steel down for many decades were resolved under the present leadership of the nation.
“We shall work with the Executive to make Ajaokuta Steel Company see the light of the day. We cannot afford to waste such a huge potential”, he said.
