The Director-General of the Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation, Hafsat Abiola, has given a hint on why she accepted to lead the Presidential campaign of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State.
The daughter of late Chief MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, said having studied Bello, she concluded he had the qualities needed to take Nigeria to its right destination.
She said one of the similarities between her late father and Governor Bello is their refusal to have political godfathers.
This, she said, was responsible for the “persecution” the Governor had faced by different interests and the controversies around his administration.
Bello recently declared in Abuja for the 2023 election in the presence of mammoth crowd.
The DG, who spoke on Arise TV interview on Sunday, expressed the confidence that Bello would clinch the ticket of the All Progressives Congress irrespective of the zone of the National Chairman.
“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,” she said.
She added that another similarity was that the late MKO believed in a United Nigeria, just like Bello, noting that he also treated everyone around him with respect regardless of their social standing.
“These are the same qualities I have seen in Governor Bello. 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. And you know me, I’m not driven by pecuniary considerations. I do what I believe in. In the next seven weeks, we would be working hard, and when we emerge, we will deliver a Nigeria of our dreams,” Hafsat said.
She said her father would have been happy to see that a young, courageous man like the Governor had done everything to bring back his Hope ’93 in Hope ’23, with the same person that did the manifesto on board – Senator Jonathan Zwingina.
