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.
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