Yagba constituency threatens to replace rep member

As the members of the national assembly mark two years in office, the people of Yagba federal constituency of Kogi state, on Wednesday berated the member representing the constituency in the House of Representatives, Sunday Karimi, over his alleged non-performance.

The people under the aegis of Yagba Youths for Change, said they were already shopping for a replacement for the lawmaker, who was elected for a second term in 2015.

The group which disclosed this on Wednesday in Lokoja, the state capital, during a lecture to mark Democracy Day, lamented that Karimi “laggard attitude” had deprived the people of the federal constituency the dividends of good representation.

The coordinator of the group, Oludoyi Francis, said the people of the area had found it difficult to reach their representative as he had not been visiting the constituency.

He said, “We have made the mistake of electing a man who has little or no concern for us to the National Assembly, an analogue representative who cannot be reached on any social media platforms where constituents can interact with him like others, a representative who doesn’t visit home to interface with his people. How can we relate our concerns to him?”

The group also accused the lawmaker of not operating a functional office where they could channels their demand, saying it was therefore absurd that Karimi was planning to return for the third term.

But the Karimi in his reaction said the group was a faceless one and a creation of the state government to attack him following his criticism of the state government unconventional attitude in state governance.

He said instead of shopping for a replacement for him, the people of the state are collectively searching for a replacement for the governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, whose replacement in 2019 had already been sealed if he eventually comes out to re-contest.

He said, “Foremost, there is no group like that as far as Yagba land is concerned. It is a creation of the state government because their language was the same they use to attack me while reacting to my interview in another dailies about their satanic way of governance in the state.”

“There is no legislator from the state that has remain close to his people like me. I’m always at home every weekend, and I’m doing the best on the floor of the national assembly. I can beat my chest to say I have done more for my people than any legislators in the state.”

“I have established an empowerment foundation where I personally donated N35 million aside other donor which has been used as loan to market women and youths without interest. I have done empowerment scheme at five different locations of the constituency in the past two years. So how else can one be close to his constituent?”

Karimi said his performance had earned him a call by his people to even take higher shot at the senate. He said, had he been ‘lagger’ as described, such call would not have been bestowed on him.