Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello says rotational presidency is not included in the constitution of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Bello stated this on Wednesday while speaking during the inauguration of a presidential campaign movement for him by some Northern youths in Kaduna. The movement is christened “Yahaya Bello Network Group.”
He stressed that only Nigerian youths would decide his eligibility and fate in the 2023 presidential election.
The YBNG, Governor Bello’s campaign organisation, was inaugurated a day after the Northern Elders Forum announced the possibility of the North retaining power in 2023, boasting that the region had the population to win the next presidential poll.
The Kogi governor’s Special Adviser on Youth and Student Affairs, Ahmed Jubril, who represented his boss on the occasion, expressed delight that Nigerian youths were beginning to identify with one of them and prepared to back him for the nation’s number one political office.
“Governor Yahaya Bello is doing the right thing because in other countries we have seen where the youths have taken over. It is only a plus for us as youths to be calling on Governor Bello to come and be the number one person in Nigeria,” he said.
Commenting on the agitation for a power shift to the South in 2023, he said, “The agitation is part of democracy; everybody has the right to call for what they want and it is their opinion. But we know that as a party, in the APC, we don’t have any fixed law saying anybody is entitled to power in any area for a period of time. Let the youth of Nigeria decide who they want.
“If they have seen the youth in Governor Bello, if they have seen a leader and a unifier of the country in him, then he shall be President by the grace of God, because man proposes, but God has the final say.
“When elected President of Nigeria, Governor Bello will be doing a lot differently, because he has been doing that. The nation is just getting back from Coronavirus and economic recession and you can see Kogi was rated fastest growing economy in Nigeria within that period of time.
“This means Governor Bello is a man who sees beyond ordinary and taken advantage of circumstances. I believe this is the kind of person we want in Nigeria now, someone with passion for the country someone who is a unifier and has fought against insecurity. We need a leader with commitment to protecting lives and properties of Nigerians.”
While inaugurating the 19 Northern states’ executives and ambassadors of the YBNG, Arewa youths declared the demand by governors of the Southern states for the return of the Presidency to their region as unconstitutional.
YBNG spokesman, Bello Mohammed Bello said, the days of the politics of regionalism, religion and ethnicity had gone.
According to him, “We are supporting Governor Yahaya Bello not only because he is our own in the North, but because he is young, vibrant, energetic and has what it takes to lead Nigeria to the promise land.
“There are agitations everywhere, but it is not constitutional and politics is a game of number and Yahyah Bello is a man of quality. Nigeria’s presidency is something that has to do with quality and has nothing to do with your religion or background. For this reason, we also believe there are so many people from the South in support of Governor Bello.”