Nigerians’ll be Yahaya Bello’s godfathers when he becomes President -Hafsat Abiola

When Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi is elected president of Nigeria, the masses will be his godfather, according to Dr. Hafsat Abiola-Costello, Director-General, Hope 23, Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation.

This was stated by Abiola-Costello during a World Press Conference on Bello’s presidential bid on Sunday in Abuja.

She claimed Bello’s independence and refusal to take a godfather was a great plus for him, adding that once elected President, the Nigerian people (masses) would be his godfathers.

“I am leading this campaign because I believe in the candidate.

“I think that the Nigerian people deserves to listen to Bello. He is exceptional, he has certain qualities even beyond anything that I have said.

“One of the major qualities is that this is a person that is willing to be independent, a person that is willing not to have a godfather.

“The people that will be the godfathers of Bello when he becomes president are the people of Nigeria, and it is about time that we have that,” Abiola-Costello said.

In response to the possibility of Bello becoming an APC candidate in the face of perceived heavyweights such as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo vying for the ticket, Abiola-Costello stated that Bello would defeat other aspirants in the party’s upcoming primaries in a free and fair competition.

The DG, on the other hand, indicated that while Bello had long fought the idea of godfathers, if he were to become Nigeria’s president, he would bring the elder politicians along with him.

“It is good that you said heavyweights. But he will win in a free and fair contest.

“His chances are actually the best of the group because in a competition, it is about the voters and 60 per cent of Nigerians are under 30.I am his Director-General because I believe in him.

“There have been a ground swell in our country by young people to play a bigger role in our political affairs.

“You do know about the not too young to run campaign that has been going on for a long time, which led to the President signing the Not too young to run Bill into law.

READ ALSO: 2000 People became millionaires under my watch in Kogi – Yahaya Bello

“Nigerian young people are ready to take more responsibilities in the governing of our affairs and this is the young people’s candidate.

“But we really value and appreciate the heavyweights and those you call tested politicians, and they can be sure that if, God willing, we have president Yahaya Bello come 2023, he will carry them along, he will be consulting them and seeking their counsel.

“He will be wanting to build on their networks and resources because the country belongs to all of us, it belongs to the tested politicians and most especially, the young people of Nigeria,” the campaign DG said.

On zoning, Abiola-Costello said that the APC as at today had thrown open the contest, not restricting it to any zone, noting that everyone was eligible to contest regardless of the zone.

“At this time, the APC has said that all aspirants are free to contest. They have given no restrictions by zone and we are guided by that and our aspirant has the freedom to put his ambition forward.

“I can assure you that his aspiration has been done with a lot of consultations from within the party to the highest level and there have been no reservations to his aspiration…The support across Nigeria is overwhelming,” she noted.

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