The Director-General of Yahaya Bello
Organisation, Hafsat Abiola-Costello yesterday said the Kogi State governor is ready for an open contest during the primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC). She said Bello was not intimidated in any form as a contender for the 2023 president
She said the governor was looking forward to a free and fair contest with other aspirants.
Abiola-Castello, who spoke at a news conference in Abuja on Sunday, asked Nigerians to give the governor a chance to prove his mettle to lead the nation.
She said: “It is good that you said, heavyweights. But he will win in a free and fair contest. His chances are 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 has been a groundswell 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 a 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.
“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 value and appreciate the heavyweights and those you call tested politicians, and they can be sure that if God wills and 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.”
On zoning, Abiola-Castello said APC as of today had” thrown open the contest, not restricting it to any zone everyone was eligible to contest regardless of the zone.”
She added:” At this time, the APC has said that all candidates are free to contest. They have given no restrictions by zone and we are guided by that and our candidate has the freedom to put his candidacy forward.
“I can assure you that his candidacy that he has put forward has been done with a lot of consultations from within the party to the highest level and there have been no reservations to his candidacy…The support across Nigeria is overwhelming.”
