The governor set up a charity fund to give the poor and vulnerable in the state a new lease of life.
Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has asked his friends, associates and well wishers who are planning to rejoice with him for his second anniversary as governor in media advertorials to donate the money to a government-run charity instead.
In a press statement signed by the governor's Chief Press Secretary, Petra Onyegbule, on Wednesday, January 24, 2018, the governor urged those considering placing goodwill messages as advertorial in the media, as his administration clocks two years on January 27, to donate to the Kogi State Poor and Vulnerable fund.
According to the statement, the governor set up the fund to give the poor and vulnerable in the state a new lease of life as it was utilised mainly to offset medical bills of people who otherwise would not be able to raise funds to get the needed medical attention within and outside the country.
The governor revealed that over the past 12 months, more than 300 recipients have benefited from the fund to the tune of over N100 million.
Governor Bello said the satisfaction of seeing people do what illness and lack of access to funds had deprived them of for years has filled him with immense joy and determination to reach more people and offer succour.
To achieve this, the governor urged his well-wishers to not spend on advertorials and donate instead to the "Kogi State Poor and Vulnerable" Guaranty Trust Bank account (0226 5262 55).
Bello thanks Kogi people for support
The governor also expressed profound gratitude to the people of Kogi State for the immense support his administration has enjoyed in past two years.
He said the goodwill he continues to enjoy from the majority of Kogi people is a demonstration of the faith the people have in him to do what is right by them.
The governor said apart from ongoing infrastructural development in the state, long lasting institutional reforms that will be the bedrock of an organised and functional system are ongoing to put in place a system which runs on principles of equity, fairness, justice, and one which rewards merit and diligence.