TheCable

Abubakar Bello, governor of Niger, says he refused to interfere in the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in the state despite “pressure” from stakeholders.

Bello spoke on Tuesday night in Abuja at a fundraising dinner organised for Mohammed Bago, Niger APC governorship candidate.

The Niger APC governorship primary was held in May 2022.

Bago, who represents Chanchaga federal constituency, polled 540 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Mohammed Malagi, publisher of Blueprint newspaper, who got 386 votes.

Mohammed Ketso, Niger’s incumbent deputy governor, received 17 votes; Sani Ndanusa got 84 votes, while Mohammed Nda secured one vote.

It is not uncommon for governors to have preferred candidates to succeed them.

Speaking on the Niger APC, Bello said he “deliberately” refused to meddle in the party’s governorship primary to ensure that the will of the people prevails.

“I deliberately refused to get involved in the primary even with all the pressure, all the lobbying. I said ‘you know what; let the will of the people take place’. When you allow the will of the people to speak, you won’t have a problem in the general election,” Bello said.

“What we see today in Niger state — the acceptance, the reception during campaigns — is as a result of allowing the people to choose who they want.

“Campaigns have been completed in two zones and I can tell you that in those two zones, we scored 90 percent.”

Speaking in an interview with journalists at the event, Bago said the fundraising was to enable him to get money for his campaign.

“We are not very rich people. Our candidature is for the people, so we need to raise funds to support our candidature because our promoters who are the masses don’t have funding,” he said.

“So, we need to look for those who are supportive at this level to help us with funding so that we can take care of the logistics for the campaign.”

The APC governorship candidate also said he plans to bring “new change” to Niger to ensure that the state is among the leading economies in Nigeria.

“We want to be an agric giant in the country and an industrial giant in that matter,” he said.

On his plan to tackle insecurity, Bago said if elected, his administration will work with traditional institutions to rid the state of criminality.

“We want to collaborate with the traditional institutions to curb insecurity,” he said.

“We have travelled around Niger for the campaigns. We have seen how people live, how our bushes are, and how our local governments are.

“There is a need for the government at the centre in the state to connect with the traditional institutions and the local institutions to curb insecurity.”