Former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has come under heavy fire after posting and later deleting a congratulatory letter to the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, written on the official Kogi State Government letterhead despite no longer holding office.
The letter, which carried the state coat of arms and Bello’s signature identifying him as “Executive Governor,” sparked widespread backlash on social media. Critics accused the former governor of refusing to detach himself from power and blurring the lines between personal identity and state authority.
In the letter, Bello congratulated the new Army Chief but added a controversial line that immediately drew attention:
“It gives me renewed hope that my worthy successor, His Excellency, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, will now have you in his corner as he continues to tackle insecurity in his domain.”
Observers quickly flagged the statement as inappropriate, arguing that it implied that the Chief of Army Staff could “belong” in a governor’s “corner,” a misrepresentation of the military’s federal chain of command.
The civic accountability group, @Kogi_Xcommunity, was the first to expose the issue. In a viral post, the platform wrote:
“Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State, has deleted his personally signed letter to the new Chief of Army Staff after facing backlash from netizens.”
The deleted letter has since reignited debate over the former governor’s conduct in and out of office, with many calling it yet another example of political overreach and disregard for institutional boundaries.
