JUST IN: Usman Ododo sworn in as Kogi State Governor

Alhaji Usman Ododo has been sworn in as the Kogi State Governor.

Ododo was sworn in by the Kogi State Chief Judge, Justice Josiah Mejabi, at the Muhammadu Buhari Civic Centre in Lokoja, the State capital.

He was administered the oath office at exactly 2:27pm after his Deputy, Elder Joel Oyibo, who had earlier taken his turn at 2:18 pm amid cheers from the crowd of well wishers.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima, representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, witnessed the ceremony.

Ododo like Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the immediate past governor of the state, comes from a minority group in the state.

Since 1999, all elected governors, including Abubakar Audu, Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada, have come from the Igala ethnic group, who are in the majority in Kogi.

That was until the accidental emergence of Yahaya Bello who was given the APC governorship ticket in 2015 following the death of Abubakar Audu, who was coasting to victory in a just concluded election, but was yet to be declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC).
Rather than declare James Faleke, Audu’s running mate governor-elect, INEC chose to declare the election inconclusive while APC gave the party ticket to Bello to inherit.

Bello came second in the governorship primary that Audu had won.