Ms. Hafsat Abiola, daughter of the acclaimed winner of the 1993 presidential election, late Chief MKO Abiola, has given an insight into controversies on the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.
She said Bello, who has his eyes on the 2023 presidential race on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, had faced persecution by different political forces and interests.
Hafsat who heads the governor’s Presidential Campaign Organisation as the director-general, said on Sunday in Lagos, highlighted striking identical traits Yahaya Bello shared with her late father.
Top of these, she noted, was that both strongly believed in a united Nigeria and had distanced themselves from having political godfathers.
She said this was responsible for the persecution Governor Bello had faced by different interests and the controversies around his administration.
While expressing optimism that Bello would clinch the presidential ticket of the APC irrespective of the fact that the national chairman of the party is from the North Central geopolitical zone, Hafsat said he has endeared himself to the masses by treating everyone around him with respect regardless of their social standing, a trait for which he late father was widely known.
“Nigerians must be given the free hand to choose their leaders. That is the meaning of democracy. My father did not contest to represent zoning interest. His interest was Nigeria and Nigeria alone.
“These are the same qualities I have seen in the Kogi governor. He dared to contest, not minding that he was from a minority tribe in Kogi and won, and he has come out again. My father did the same, when it was believed that a Yoruba man could not be President.
“Yahaya Bello is the best man for the job…I’m not driven by pecuniary considerations. I do what I believe in. In the next seven weeks, we will be working hard, and when we emerge, we will deliver a Nigeria of our dreams”.
Hafsat says her father would have been happy to see that a young, courageous man like Bello had done everything to bring back his Hope ’93 in Hope ’23, with the same person that did the manifesto on board – Sen. Jonathan Zwingina.
Recall that thousands of Nigerians from all walks of life had stormed the Eagle Square at the nation’s capital on Saturday to witness the official acceptance of Governor Bello to vie for the 2023 Presidency.
While declaring his intention to run, Bello reiterated that he had demonstrated capacity to lead Nigeria in his present assignment as the Governor of Kogi , noting that what mattered was Nigeria and the wellbeing of it’s citizens.
