Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has promised not to
betray Nigerians if given the opportunity to be the next President of the
country in 2023.
He made the promise during a telephone conversation with
North-East legislators, as part of consultations towards his presidential
ambition on Thursday.
This is as he expressed optimism that he will win the 2023
presidential election with the prayers and support of the legislators whom he
described as “critical stakeholders”.
He, however, said that the task ahead is enormous for them, although “it is about all of us, it is about our party, about Nigeria and about our future, but by the grace of God, with your support and prayers, I know we will get to the promised land.”
He added: “I would have been there personally to appreciate
you, but you know that everywhere I go, the crowd is always too much and I
don’t want to be seen to be breaking the law since open campaigns have not been
allowed; I want to keep to the law. I’ll come around when the ban is lifted to
speak to you one-on-one in your various enclaves. However, my Speaker and other
well spirited Nigerians are moving around the country and are talking to people
of importance, especially critical stakeholders like you.
“I want to promise you that I will not disappoint any of
you, looking at the relationship I have with the Speaker of the Kogi State
House of Assembly, I know that by the grace of God, we will have a more robust
and wonderful relationship. We will get to the Presidential Villa on May 29th,
2023.
“I need your support, I need your prayers, I need your
buy-in, I need you very much so that together, we can save this country and
build on the successes of President Muhammadu Buhari. I once again promise that
I will not betray your trust, I will not disappoint you because I am a man who
keeps promises and trust.”
In his welcome speech, the convener of the meeting, the
Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, who said that if
power is allowed to go to the south, the north would have been shortchanged,
pointed out that the North Central is the only zone that has neither produced a
President or Vice since 1960.
“Laying aside the unconstitutional aberration called
military rule during which every part of this country has produced the Head of
State, we are categorical that only the North Central, our region, has not
produced an elected President or Vice President of Nigeria since Independence
in 1960. Since Nigeria returned to democratic system of governance in 1999,
twenty-three years ago, North Central has not been lucky to occupy the number
one seat in the country’s leadership.
“There is no gainsaying that the North Central is blessed
with credible and prominent personalities who have contributed and still
contributing to the overall development of this country, hence North Central is
appealing to other zones in the Northern region to give us the opportunity to
produce the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Kolawole urged the Mai Mala Buni Caretaker Committee not to
zone the Chairmanship position to the North Central because it is interested in
producing the next President.
He said, “Accordingly, we urge the CECPC and all the leading
institutions of our great party the APC not to join the disturbing bandwagon of
directly or indirectly zoning the position of the next National Chairman to the
North Central zone because we are interested in and will be making strong bids
for the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This we shall
continue to agitate for till our voice is heard.
“It is on this note I want to announce to you that one of
our own, the youngest Governor in the country who is making us proud across
board, Governor Yahaya Bello has signified his intention to lead the country
come 2023 and because of his antecedents, qualities and unprecedented
performances in security, economic prosperity, good governance, youths/women
inclusiveness in governance, infrastructures development, human capital
development etc, I hereby wish to call on our colleagues from the North -ast to
support and endorse him as the candidate for the President come 2023.”
Also speaking, the Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly
and Chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Abubakar
Suleiman, stated that as loyal party members, they will always abide by the
decisions of the party even though they desire that power remains in the north.
Suleiman, who also urged his colleagues in the North-East
region to support the presidential ambition of Bello, went on to eulogiSe him,
saying he has learnt a lot from him, through him directly and through his
colleague, the Kogi State Speaker. He described Bello as a detribalised
Nigerian who has people from different parts of the country in his cabinet.
He said, “You know this forum cannot end without bringing
the issue of Yahaya Bello because it is an open secret that he sponsored this
meeting and he deserves a kudos.
“We all know that Yahaya Bello is a youth who is agile,
strong, athletic, humble, straightforward and determined. He also has the
maturity and he’s a promise-keeper. Yahaya Bello is also generous. I believe
that at the end of this meeting, members will testify to this point.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com