ABUJA—Director-General, Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, has said Nigerians of all walks from life would play the godfather role to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State when he is elected President in the 2023 election.
She also said in a free, fair and credible contest, Yahaya Bello has what it takes to beat other presidential aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to get the ticket.
2023 Presidency: Yahaya Bello is APC’s best bet – Campaign org boasts
Abiola-Costello, who stated this while addressing a world press conference on the aspiration of Governor Bello and his chances at the delegate election.in Abuja yesterday, 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 Governor Yahaya Bello when he becomes President are the people of Nigeria.”
On whether Bello could get the ticket, with the likes of Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Rotimi Amaechi and other APC stalwarts in the race, she 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 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 bill into law.
“Young Nigerians 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 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.”
On zoning, Abiola-Costello said APC, as at today, had thrown open the contest, not restricting it to any zone, noting that everyone is eligible to contest, regardless of zone.
“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 aspirant has the freedom to put his aspiration forward.
“I can assure you that his aspiration that he has put forward was done with a lot of consultations from within the party to the highest level and there have been no reservations to his. The support across Nigeria is overwhelming,” she added