From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has expressed confidence of emerging the consensus presidential candidate should the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari, settle for the option during the party’s primary for the 2023 presidential election.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Governor Bello, represented by the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Evangelist Kingsley Fanwo, dismissed speculation of the growing number of the contestants like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President, Prof Yemi Osibanjo posing any threat to him.
Responding to what becomes of his ambition should the party settle for consensus candidate, he said: “Our party is a party of rules. I am very sure you avail yourself of the constitution of the party, especially as it affects the mode of selecting candidates for elections. You have all the options; consensus, direct and indirect primaries.
“What consensus means is that if I am contesting against others, what it means is that before you can be talking about consensus, the aspirants cannot just come and announced that they have withdrawn. We will have to sign a document announcing our withdrawal from that context. That is what our constitution says. they will follow the constitution. We cannot make rules and break them.
“So, what I will say is this, if it’s going to be a contest where people will seek for votes, Yahaya Bello will be there. If it is going to be on consensus, he is basically the youngest, and a serving governor who is performing wonders in unifying, securing and progressing his people, definitely the consensus will favour Yahaya Bello. So, let us wait and watch. If it is going to be a contest where we are going to look for votes we will be there. If it is consensus, it is still going to be GYB,” he insisted.
On the threats from other heavyweight aspirants, he said: said: “Gov Bello is not intimidated by their pedigree, profile experience and exposure or what they have done in the past. Now, when you compare that to what someone is doing at the moment, I think they are the ones that should be intimidated right now. Because it is not about what you have achieved in the past.”
“It is going to be what you are doing now and what you can do for this nation from 2023. So, the governor too has garnered some experiences. He has been a Chief Executive of his state for the past six, seven years. And also, he has been able to see governance at that very close rates. We are very confident that he is going to do a great job for Nigeria,” he insisted.
The governor equally reiterated his earlier comments on rotational President, insisting that the rotation will be based on capacity and competence.
“Until we challenge the status quo, that idiosyncratic page must be broken before you can be talking of progressing as a nation and as a people. So, it’s no more about rotation. We always bring these to politics. We don’t use it in other places. When you are sick and we are taking kings care in hospitals, and they say you need an operation, you will not ask the administrative Secretary whether the person who is going to treat you is it an Hausaman.
“You would want a competent medical doctor to attend to you. Whether he is an Egbira, Hausa, it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether he is competent to attend to you. Now, the driver that will take you from here to Onitsha, what you are interested in is, whether he is a good driver. In politics, we use that sentiment, where is he or she coming from?
“In 2023, it is going to change. The zoning may be competence, capacity, patriotism, a unifier, a bridge builder. That is where we are zoning it to. Whether the person is a northerner, Southerner, Igbo, Hausa it does not matter anymore.
“Since we have being here since 1960, are we better off? So that is where we are going. And that’s what we have come out to challenge because it will take a courageous man like Yahaya Bello to challenge and defeat that monster before we can be talking about development. So, on rotation, we are ready for the battle ahead. It is going to be about capacity and competence,” he insisted.