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6 months ago
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Former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello (left)
While Kogi State citizens suffered “unprecedented maladministration, deprivation and under-development” under former governor Yahaya Bello according to a petition, the ex-governor’s children have been dining on lavish international cuisines at one of Nigeria’s most elite schools — the American International School of Abuja (AISA).
The lunch menu for April 2024 at AISA, where Bello paid nearly $846,000 in advance tuition fees for five of his children from Kogi State’s coffers, reads like a guide to world-class restaurants.
In the school’s lunch menu obtained by THE WHISTLER on Friday, the former governor’s children could select from dishes like Philly cheesesteak, Salami pizza, BBQ chicken burritos, beef kebabs with jollof rice, char-grilled chicken with mac and cheese, chutney chicken sandwiches, and chicken shawarma wraps for lunch at school.
Every meal comes with fresh vegetable sides like niçoise salad, fattoush salads, coleslaw, and Greek salads.
There are vegetarian options like avocado and feta sandwiches, falafel wraps, lentil spaghetti bolognese, and tofu with mushrooms in sauce over rice. It also includes fresh fruit and drinks daily.
The opulent menu is in contrast to the “suffering and hardship” that Bello was accused of inflicting on Kogi citizens in a petition filed by Kogi Conscience before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The petition identified Kogi peoples’ suffering to include “records of several deaths and stories of hunger, starvation and withdrawal of wards from institutions of learning.”
While Bello’s children feast on dishes from around the globe, many in Kogi could allegedly barely afford a basic meal.
The civil society group had condemned Bello’s apparent prioritization of his own family’s luxury over the well-being of the poverty-stricken state he governed.
They question how the former governor could allegedly divert N300bn meant for the 21 Local Government Areas of the state during his tenure when local government workers went months without full salaries.
Meanwhile, in documents seen by THE WHISTLER on Friday, the American International School of Abuja (AISA) admitted receiving the said $845,852.84 from Bello.
Bello allegedly paid the sum from the Kogi State government’s accounts as tuition fees for five of his children schooling at AISA.
Four of the children were at the time enrolled at the school from grade levels 2 to 8, while the fifth payment was for a “future student to be enrolled.”
The school, in the letter to the EFCC, agreed to refund $760,910.80 out of the total amount paid by the former governor after deducting fees for “educational services rendered” to the former governor’s children.
