10 things: Meet Yahaya Bello, the new Kogi state governor

Yahaya Bello was sworn in today as the Governor of Kogi State in a colourful ceremony at the Confluence Stadium in Lokoja, the state capital.

But who exactly is the man who became governor by a strange twist of fate?

Here are 10 key facts about the governor:

10.Yahaya Bello was born on June 18, 1975 in Agassa, Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State to Alhaji Bello Ochi and Hajia Hauwa Bello.

9.  He was the last born of six children.

8.  He was head boy of his primary school, LGEA Primary School, Agassa, Okene.

7.  Bello is an alumnus of the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. He obtained a degree in       accounting in 1999 and a Master’s in Business Administration from the university in 2004.

6.  He started his professional career as Revenue Officer II with the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, rising to the position of Assistant Chief Accountant.

5.  Bello had his big break investing in stocks; oil and gas, real estate, and more.

4.  His nickname is Fair-Plus as a result of the success of his transport company, FairPlus International Limited. The company is a transport and courier service company, which has expanded into the retail business with supermarkets.

3.  At 40, he is the youngest democratically elected governor in Kogi State’s history. Abubakar Audu first became governor at 44; Ibrahim Idris was 54; while Idris Wada was 58.

2.  He is the first person from the Ebira tribe to become the governor of the state. The three governors before him were from the Igala tribe, which is the largest in the state.

1.  He contested and lost the APC governorship primaries in the state to Abubakar Audu. Audu had secured 1,109 votes, while he polled 703 votes.

Bello, whose hobbies include reading, football and boxing, said he joined the governorship race after people from all over the state pressured him to come and rescue it from collapse.

Audu’s death on November 22, a day after the initial governorship election put Bello back in the race, albeit amid controversy, and led to his inauguration as the fourth democratically elected governor of the state.