Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
An aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 16 Kogi State governorship election, Mona Mustapha Audu, has stated that the incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello does not pose any threat to his ambition of emerging the candidate of the party in the August 29 primaries.
Fielding questions from newsmen while addressing thousands of his supporters after picking the APC Expression of Interest and Nomination Form at the party secretariat, Abuja, he expressed confidence that he would defeat Governor Bello regardless of the mode of primaries adopted by the party’s national leadership.
Mustapha, who arrived the secretariat in a convoy of vehicles accompanied by his supporters from the three senatorial districts of the state in a charged atmosphere, assured the party faithful that he has all it takes to defeat the incumbent in the party’s primaries to pick the sole ticket for the November 16 governorship polls.
The son of late Prince Abubakar Audu also dedicated the forms to the civil servants of the state whom he said are collapsing under the weight of more than 30-months unpaid salaries, and the jobless Kogi youths languishing in poverty and untold hardships in the past four years.
“Sincerely speaking, direct primary or indirect primary does not bother me, although in democracy it is good to listen to what the people want especially as other aspirants and stakeholders are clamouring for direct primary. My advice to the party is to listen to what the people want. Whether direct or indirect, I have all it takes to win the governor during the party primary,” he said.
“I am promising Kogites a government that will focus on human capital development, empowerment of women as well as youths, a government that will focus on creating employment and sports development. Nigeria will win the next World Cup if I become the governor of Kogi and the state will dominate the team. I will lift the state because God has so much endowed us with mineral resources and tourism potentials to find its true bearing if you give me the mandate to govern.
“My ambition to be the governor of the state is simply for the benefit of the people of the state. It is not a do-or-die affair.
“Contrary to the false information peddled about my family, we are all united and focused towards getting power for the overall progress of the state, the ideals my late father and political icon, Prince Abubakar Audu stood for,” he assured.
