Why I’m leading Yahaya Bello’s presidential campaign organisation —Hafsat Abiola

By Akinwande Soji-Ojo

The Director General(DG) Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation, Hafsat Abiola, has said she accepted to lead the campaign efforts of the Kogi State Governor because she has studied the aspirant and has seen in him the qualities needed to take Nigeria to its right destination.

Abiola, daughter of the winner of the 1993 presidential election, late Chief MKO Abiola, spoke on Arise TV programme, ‘This Day Live.’

She said one of the similarities between her late father and Bello was that they both refused 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.

The DG expressed confidence that Bello would clinch the ticket of the All Progressives Congress(APC) irrespective of the zone the party’s national chairman comes from.

“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,” she said.

Abiola said her father would have been happy to see that a young, courageous man like Bello 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.

The DG pointed out that the presidential aspirant had the right marks where the votes were, women and youths, adding that being the first female DirectorGeneral of a presidential campaign organisation was an attestation to Bello’s unrivalled record in women inclusion.

The governor had on Saturday at the Eagle Square, Abuja, declared his intention to contest for president in 2023.

While declaring his intention to run, Bello reiterated that he had demonstrated capacity to lead Nigeria in his present assignment as the governor of Kogi State, noting that, for him, all that mattered was Nigeria and the wellbeing of citizens.