Ngozi Okpala
A pressure group in Rivers State, the Akpor Consultative Assembly, on Saturday asked the state governor, Nyesom Wike, to run for the office of the President in the 2023 election. It said at a time like this, the country needed a courageous and youthful leader like Wike.
Similarly, thousands of youths in the South-West, under the aegis of Rescue Nigeria Mission, called on the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, to contest the presidency, saying they would reject moneybags in the election.
The President General of ACA, Chief Hanny Woko, told newsmen after the group’s meeting in Ozuoba, Port Harcourt, that Wike was the most qualified for the job.
Woko said, “After consultations as a group, we are calling on the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, today, the 26th day of February 2022 to present himself to run for the highest office in the land.
“We are compelling him to make himself available to run for the office of the President because Nigeria needs a man of his status at this perilous time. We need sanity in Nigeria. We need a courageous, youthful leader to man that position. In Governor Wike we see every qualification. In him, we see the embodiment of a true patriotic Nigerian.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, who is a member of the group, said having served as a local government chairman, minister and now a governor, the governor had shown capacity to lead the country.
He added, “Today, Rivers State remains the centrepiece of development in Nigeria in terms of infrastructural, healthcare delivery, education, agriculture, housing, women empowerment, social welfare and justice system.
What we are just doing here is to re-echo the voice of the majority of Nigerians who have been clamouring for him to throw his cap into the ring to contest the Presidency.”
Similarly, members of the Rescue Nigeria Mission, who converged on Lagos on Saturday, said it was time to change the political history of recycling old, tired politicians, stressing that Bello was the best man for the job.
They said like their counterparts in the north, they were ready to mobilise for Bello regardless of what happens within his party, the All Progressives Congress. They argued that the governor had shown capacity in the way he governs his state.
The coordinator of the youth in the South-West, Shola Saheed, said, “As we speak today, over 20 million youths – with permanent voter cards – at home and abroad are already actively involved in the struggle to install our own Governor Yahaya Bello as the President. Others are still trooping in.
“We are set to rewrite the political history of Nigeria. We will not listen to ‘Baba sope’, we will collect their billions if they bring it, but we assure you, we will put Yahaya Bello there with our numbers. Don’t ask me how we will do it. Just watch and see how we would rescue this nation peacefully.”
The Chief of Staff to the governor, Abdulkareem Jamiu Asuku, thanked the youth for their support for his principal.
He said, “Governor Yahaya Bello is the face of the youth in government today. The economy and internally generated revenue of Kogi State tripled within a short period. Such a man who has been able to transform the economy of Kogi State, unite the people and fix security issues in record time, is the man Nigeria needs.”
Chidiogo asuke
