The Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has said he is contesting for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to challenge the ‘monster’ called zoning.
The governor said zoning is a stumbling block to the nation’s progress and must be broken in 2023.
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The APC had zoned its 2023 presidential ticket to the South while the national chairman of the party and a former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who emerged at the March 26 national convention of the party is from the North-Central. Bello is also from the North-Central geopolitical zone.
Governor Bello who spoke with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, through the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, Evangelist Kingsley Fanwo, and flanked by other top government functionaries said he is ready for the battle ahead.
He said, “We have been zoning since 1960, are we better off? So that is where we are going. And that is what we have come out to challenge because it will take a courageous man like Yahaya Bello to challenge and defeat that monster before we can be talking about development.
“So, on rotation, we are ready for the battle ahead. It is going to be about capacity and competence. When you have security, and you are united, you will be thinking about progressing the nation. You will be thinking about advancing the course of our development as a nation, as a people. And that’s very critical.
“Are we progressing? Are we moving forward as a nation, we need to interrogate these issues, and then come to a conclusion as a people the kind of governmental we want in 2003.”
He also said that he was not afraid of the growing number of aspirants on the party’s platform, expressing optimism that he would emerge as the presidential candidate whether the APC adopts consensus, direct or indirect primaries as mode of nomination.
