THE Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation on Sunday assured Nigerians that the Kogi State governor will restructure Nigeria if elected President in 2023.
The Director-General, YBPCO, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, said this during a press conference in Abuja.
According to Abiola-Costello, daughter of late Chief MKO Abiola, the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Bello would defeat other perceived heavyweights in the forthcoming primaries of the All Progressives Congress in a free and fair contest.
She said like her late father, Bello would not succumb to vested interests from political godfathers in running the country’s affairs.
She, however, said though it was clear that Bello had resisted the idea of godfathers for long, he would carry the older politicians along when he becomes the President.
She was answering questions on whether Bello could emerge the winner of the APC ticket in a contest that has the likes of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other perceived heavyweights as aspirants.
Abiola-Costello said, “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 it is about the voters in competition and 60 per cent of Nigerians are under 30. I am his Director-General because I believe in him.
“There has been a groundswell in our country by young people to play a bigger role in our political affairs. You know about the ‘Not Too Young to Run’, a campaign going on for a long time, which led to the President signing the Not too Young to Run Bill into law.
“Nigerian young people are ready to take more responsibilities in governing our affairs and this is the young people’s candidate.
“But we 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, seeking their counsel.
“He will want 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.”
She added that Bello believes that there is a need to restructure the country for better development.
“For instance, the Federal government granted autonomy to local governments, but all governors do not practise it. Gov. Bello practises it. The local governments in Kogi have autonomy. They get their money directly from the federation account. He also pays a certain proportion of the state’s revenues to the local governments.
“This is a governor that when he is in the role of a presidency, he would be working to strengthen the states and the local government because it would be difficult to deliver dividends of democracy,” Abiola-Costello said.
On zoning, she 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.
