Kogi Poll: I’ll Demolish All Opposition, Yahaya Bello Vows

Governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello, has dispelled insinuation that he may not be able to secure the gubernatorial ticket of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the November election in the state, saying that not only will he get the ticket but he will thrash all opposition at the poll.

The governor, who met with President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, told State House correspondents that he had been able to rebuild the ruling party, leading it to a massive victory in the last general election.

Asked how confident he was about getting the ticket, he said: “I am the Governor today and Insha Allah, l will return back as the Governor for another four years, after the November 16 election.

“As for the ticket, the analogy is that the tenant cannot send the landlord out of his house. So, APC in Kogi state was rebuilt by me, after the good job done by our late leader, His Excellency, Prince Abubakar Audu.

“After his demise, l came, rebuilt it from the scratch to what it is today. That is evident in the last outing of the party where we had 25/25, in the State House of Assembly. We also won 7 out of the 9 contested positions in the House of Representatives and two out of the three Senators representing Kogi state in the Senate.

“So, anybody that is making such noise, does not disturb me, because, in the market place, noise is allowed.

“You know, Kogi politics is the loudest. So, people must make noise and you can’t stop that. But surely, l am very good with my party from the local government to the national level. They know that l am the leader of the party in my state. I have built it and it is very strong.

“Anytime, any day, we will elections in a landslide. That l am going to win in the primaries is given by the grace of God, by whichever means, direct or indirect.

“Secondly, in the November Governorship election, we are not just talking of winning we are looking at the margins. The margin is going to be such that whoever comes far second, will be discouraged to go to court.”

Also speaking on the significance of the declaration of June 12 as Nigeria’s Democracy Day, Bello expressed gratitude to President Buhari for the gesture.

He added: “We can’t thank Mr President well enough for that wonderful masterstroke of recognising an icon, a human being that is synonymous with democracy, the late Chief MKO Abiola.

“I think something would have been wrong if he had not done this. For effectively doing it well, we can’t thank him enough. It is so significant for us and the future generation to know that this man paid the supreme price for the democracy we are enjoying today.

“We continue to pray for him to do more for the country. He has blazed the trail.

It is significant for politics and politicians.”

The Kogi Governor said with the APC taking over the leadership positions at the National Assembly, the government will be able to implement its programmes.

He further stated: “You are going to see government at ease in the next level. Programmes, projects and every policy of the government, you are going to see them implemented with ease unlike what we saw in the 8th National Assembly.

“You can see now that the atmosphere is very calm and everybody is happy. It shows that APC got it right this time around.

“So, kudos to Mr President, the leadership of our great party and leadership of the National Assembly and all the members of the National Assembly.”