TheCable

Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under the umbrella of North Central Coalition for Leadership says the 2023 presidential ambition of Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, is non-negotiable.

In a statement on Saturday, Williams Oluwatoyin, director-general of the coalition group, said the decision of the ruling party to zone its national chairmanship position to north-central will not deter Bello from contesting for presidency under the APC.

In a document signed on March 1, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a proposed zoning formula for the APC where Abdullahi Adamu, senator representing Nasarawa West from the north-central zone, is proposed as the APC national chairman.

Oluwatoyin noted that the appeal made by a group for Bello to relinquish his presidential ambition belittles the zone.

“Our attention has been drawn to a statement purportedly issued by a faceless group of stakeholders in Nasarawa State Council of the All Progressives Congress, APC appealing to Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state to sacrifice his presidential ambition to pave way for the north-central to produce the national chairman of the party,” Oluwatoyin said.

“The said statement reportedly made by the chairman of the council, Kassim Muhammed-Kassim in Yola, claimed that the group endorsed Senator Abdullahi Adamu for the position of national chairman in the forthcoming party’s convention.

“Without mincing words, we are the authentic APC stakeholders in the north central and there is no other apart from us. We wonder what kind of zone would be satisfied more with producing a chairman than producing a president.

“We, the authentic Stakeholders in APC North Central, want to state categorically that we are in full support of Yahaya Bello’s presidential ambition and we regard the purported appeal for him to back out from the race as standing logic on its head.

“By saying this, we do not by any means infer that anybody should not vie for the chairmanship position in the north central. What has come to stay, through popular demand, is that Yahaya Bello will contest presidency notwithstanding where the party’s chairmanship position is zoned to.

“Even if the party’s chairmanship is zoned to Okene Local Government, Yahaya Bello will contest and we will ensure victory for him by God’s grace.”

The coalition group maintained that the Kogi governor has demonstrated the capacity, excellence and competence in governance to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.