2023: Excluding Me From APC Primary Is ‘Recipe For Bigger Trouble’ – Yahaya Bello

Kogi State Governor and presidential hopeful, Yahaya Bello has warned that excluding him from the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a “recipe for bigger trouble”.

APC Presidential Primaries

The governor spoke on Tuesday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari after the APC Northern governors zoned the party’s presidential ticket to the south.

KanyiDaily had earlier published a video showing the moment Bello angrily walked out of a meeting between northern APC governors met and President Buhari on Monday.

Speaking on why Bello was not at the meeting, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai said the presidential hopeful was against the governors’ decision on zoning the presidential ticket to the south.

El-Rufai said Bello decided “excused himself” from the meeting after 13 of the 19 APC governors from the north agreed that the party’s presidential ticket be zoned to the south.

Speaking with state house correspondents after meeting Buhari on Tuesday, Bello said he will resist any attempt to exclude him from contesting the APC ticket.

Bello said, “I am a free citizen and a qualified member of the party. I am contesting. I bought the form, was cleared to participate in the primary, and there is no reason for me to be excluded from the ballot. If they do so, then that is a recipe for a bigger trouble for the party.

“However, I don’t think it is a decision of the party. It is a decision of a few elites who may decide to use their position to oppress the so-called minority. But I want to prove that in this country, I am not in the minority. I belong to the younger generation and Nigerians that are oppressed and are saying that their voices must be heard.

“I believe strongly that getting into that arena today, I will win overwhelmingly if the process and normal regulations are followed; I will emerge victorious.”

The governor said his meeting with Buhari was to explain why he excluded himself from the meeting involving northern APC governors and the president.

He said,  “I am a unifier. I have demonstrated that severally in my state and in carrying out various tasks that I was given by the party.

“So, nobody consulted me over the decision that power be shifted to the south and I would say they were enrolled by a certain interest that wants to be the vice-president at all costs.

“And I continue to oppose the issue of turn-by-turn presidency because the insecurity that is facing us today does not respect that. Every part of this country is faced with insecurity and wants prosperity and we want unity in this country, which is what I stand for.

“Who should be able to solve that problem is what should occupy our minds now, not rotational presidency.”

Meanwhile, the APC National Working Committee has countered the position of Abdullahi Adamu, chairman of the party, who adopted the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan as the consensus presidential candidate of the party.