One of the leading Presidential Aspirants on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, has paid for his Party Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to contest the 2023 Presidential election.
The governor paid the required N100m for the purchase of the forms on Tuesday, making him the first to officially seal his aspiration to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023.
According to a Press Statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation, Yemi Kolapo, thousands of Nigerians from all walks of life stormed the Eagle Square in the nation’s capital, on Saturday, April 2, 2022, to witness the official acceptance of Governor Bello to vie for the 2023 Presidency.
Kolapo said the governor would on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, pick his Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms.
“This made him the first to officially seal his aspiration to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023,” he said.
Kolapo said with the payment for the forms, Bello’s teeming supporters should be rest assured that he would be on the ballot paper in the 2023 presidential race.
The statement partly read, “With the payment for the forms, Governor Bello’s teeming supporters should rest assured that he will be on the ballot in the 2023 presidential race.
“We are highly encouraged by the number of APC Governors, leaders and stakeholders who have demonstrated their strong support for the candidacy of our principal. We reiterate that he is not known for betrayal. He is always very loyal to his own and his priorities have always been Nigeria, Nigeria and Nigeria.
“Though the race officially begins now, it is on record that Governor Bello has consistently been at the forefront of the contest. He has demonstrated this again by being the first to pay for the forms.”
The statement added, “We urge delegates and indeed all Nigerians to shun divisive narratives in the interest of the nation and choose the best of the lot. We have no doubt that our tested and trusted National Working Committee members will put the interest of the party and that of Nigeria first in their activities around the process that will throw up the next flagbearer of the APC,” the Director, Media and Publicity, Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation, Yemi Kolapo, said.
The last few months have witnessed persistent calls by different youth, women and professional groups across Nigeria for the Kogi State governor to contest for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
With Senator Jonathan Zwingina as the Chairman of the Hope ’23 Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation, and Hafsat Abiola-Costello as the Director-General, the tone is set for Hope to be actualized for Nigerians in 2023, the campaign organization said.
