The Chairman of Nigeria Youth Initiatives for Good Governance anchoring Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Hon. Ahmed Attah has promised to buy the APC expression of Intent and Nomination Forms for Governor Yahaya Bello in the Presidential race 2023.
He drummes that Nigeria’s next presidential election is in 2023, which means there are still two years before the poll. “Though the election is still some miles away and politicians interested in the presidential seat have started building alliances, reviving old political catchphrases like the perennial call for restructuring, power shift and the unending quest for ethno-religious consideration in power distribution, among others.
“Aside chorusing old sentiments that seem to resonate with the populace whenever elections are nigh, he disclosed that potential aspirants have started testing the waters by sending out their foot soldiers, shadowy groups and emissaries to start mobilising support for them across board.
Attah said that one of such early birds in Nigeria is the governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, a graduate of accounting from Northern Nigeria’s premier university, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Not counting the politically undiscerning, only a few Nigerians were shocked recently when his posters bearing different jocular inscriptions written in popular Nigerian lingos snaked into the public space, depicting his interest in becoming President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023.
For his initial introduction into the presidential ring via the posters, bill boards and hand bills, Mr Bello was largely a butt of ridiculous jokes and sarcasm by netizens of the country’s ubiquitous social media.
Associates have been drumming support for Bello. The most notable group of people working for the ‘Bello for President Project’ is the Youth Initiatives for Good Governance and Rule of Laws headed by Hon. Ahmed Attah who triples as Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Duties & APC Acting Zonal Chairman Kogi East.
You will recall that Ahmed Attah is the first to put this drum of call. Attah kick started the demand, urging the Governor to run for president.
True to Attah’s vow to mobilise support for the governor, he has toured many states to seek support for Mr Bello, in his latest political preoccupation.
Ahmed Attah’s message has been unambiguous: it is the turn of the North-central to produce the president in 2023. In addition, he said Mr Bello is qualified in every ramification, going by the quality of leadership he is offering in his state, as well as his unifying roles in the APC at the national level.
Whether out of courtesy or sincerity, Mr Attah praised Mr Bello’s efforts in bringing development to Kogi State while also emphasising that the North-central has long been denied its due in the Nigerian federation.
Mr Attah said contrary to social media criticisms of Mr Bello, the governor is bringing physical development to Kogi and making giant strides in maintaining security in the state that was once a haven of daredevil criminals.
Besides, Attah has legion of online warriors, most of them base nation wide who continually tout his qualifications and suitability for the job.
These cyber campaigners, mostly in their 30s and early 40s, argue that it is the turn of the North-central zone to produce the president and that Mr Bello, by all metrics of assessment, is shoulders above every other person in the zone to become one.
That fact about the North-central is one of the best tools the ‘Bello for President’ canvassers are deploying to advance the interest of their principal.
Ahmed Attah speaking on GYB’s strengths and Youthfulness, revaled that those of us rooting for Mr Bello say he is young, vibrant and agile and as such will be able to steer the ship of the country with all the vigour and energy it deserves, unlike the incumbent, who once acknowledged that age has weakened his ability to discharge his constitutional responsibilities.
They said Mr Bello becoming the president will align with the silent agitation of the Nigerian youth who want one of them to become president.
In this regard’s Ahmed Attah promised to buy the APC expression of intent and nomination forms for the governor.
His supporters say he has already demonstrated what he can do at the national level through his cabinet picks in Kogi, which is significantly populated by young men and women.
Speaking on Security, Ahmed Attah said, before Mr Bello’s coming to power in 2016, Kogi was a haven for violent criminals, especially high-grade kidnappers.
A year or two into his administration, the volume of crimes and criminalities in the state was said to have reduced, even if marginally, although those in the opposition and his critics say otherwise.
The governor’s supporters said he has shown kidnappers and cultists hell in the state.
For his commitment to stem the tide of insecurity in the state, Ibrahim Idris, a former inspector-general of police, named him the Best Governor of the Year on Security in 2016, an award the PDP described as undeserving.
Similarly, his supporters recalled that the Northern Governors’ Forum chose him to head the forum’s security committee because of his achievements in the sector in Kogi.
On Gender sensitivity, he mantaines that among the 36 state governors, Mr Bello is said to be one of the most gender-sensitive in terms of distribution of appointments and political offices.
It is during his term in office that a woman was appointed for the first time ever in the state as Secretary to the State Government, in the person of Folashade Ayoade. The state’s Head of Service is also a woman.
Mr Bello is also the first governor in the state to appoint a female chief press secretary during his first term in office. His current Aide-de-Camp is a woman too.
The vice-chairpersons in all the 21 local governments in the state are female, also a first-time occurrence in the state. Some local commentators said the governor deliberately persuaded his party to pick women as deputies to the chairpersons.
A United Nations body, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, recently commended Mr Bello for facilitating the election of women as deputy chairpersons of all the local councils in the state.
In a commendation letter dated January 26 sent to the governor, UN Women Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Comfort Lamptey, described the appointment as a ”bold effort” on the part of the state government.
Ms Lamptey, in her letter, asked the governor for a meeting with him on how the body could help Kogi State in promoting issues that have to do with the female gender.
HON. AHMED ATTAH CAN BE REACHED @ 0806 856 7120