KOGI State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has warned that any attempt to exclude him from the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would spell trouble for the party in the long run.
Bello said this shortly after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House today.
He said he would resist any attempt to exclude him from the contest.
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“I am a free citizen and a qualified member of the party. I am contesting. I bought the form, was cleared to participate in the primary, and there is no reason for me to be excluded from the ballot. If they do so, then that is a recipe for a bigger trouble for the party.
“However, I don’t think it is a decision of the party. It is a decision of a few elites who may decide to use their position to oppress the so-called minority. But I want to prove that in this country, I am not in the minority. I belong to the younger generation and Nigerians that are oppressed and are saying that their voices must be heard.
“I believe strongly that getting into that arena today, I will win overwhelmingly if the process and normal regulations are followed. I will emerge victorious,” he said.
He explained that his meeting with Buhari was to tell him why he walked out of a meeting involving the northern APC governors yesterday.
The northern APC governors, after the meeting with Buhari, had insisted on power shift to the south.
Bello described himself as a unifier, saying he had demonstrated that in his state and in carrying out various tasks he was given by the party.
He maintained that nobody consulted him on the decision to shift power to the south.
“I would say they were enrolled by a certain interest that wants to be the vice-president at all costs. And I continue to oppose the issue of turn-by-turn presidency because the insecurity that is facing us today does not respect that. Every part of this country is faced with insecurity and wants prosperity, and we want unity in this country, which is what I stand for.
“Who should be able to solve that problem is what should occupy our minds now, not rotational presidency,” he said.
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