Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has stressed his commitment towards having a country devoid of tribalism, insecurity, economy decline and other pressing national issues.
The 2023 presidential hopeful on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said that despite the challenges in the country, Nigeria still remains the best in Africa, hence, his ambition to join the train for the elusive position as the commander in chief.
He spoke at the second annual GYB Seminar for Nigeria’s Political and Crime Correspondents which took place in Abuja.
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The seminar attracted journalists from across the country who converged at the nation’s capital to discuss critical national issues that has bedevilled the country.
The Kogi chief executive accused previous administrations for failing to equip the security agents with sophisticated weapons to nip the menance of Boko Haram in the bud and other prevalent insecurity issues.
Bello said: “I put myself forward to be that man that will champion the new Nigeria where all these sentiments doesn’t matter any longer.
I happen to be a Muslim that comes from North Central but more importantly, I am a Nigerian.
“We want to make sure that the language you speak, the religion you practice and where you come from doesnt matter in our presidency and that is why we need Nigerians to join us and set the ball rolling so that all political parties will consider merit.
“This time around we must jettison these mundane sentiment of where you come from. It is time to breach that gap and cement that relationship and dwell more on that which unites us more and won’t divide us.
“I have thrown my hat into the ring. I did that for one single reason; to give hope to Nigerians, to give hope even to the hopeful ones because the hopeful ones are currently hopeless. Join me in this journey and let’s restore hope in Nigeria.”
He added that President Muhammadu Buhari is doing his best to tackle insecurity noting that it is politically motivated to demean the efforts of the present administration.
“This insecurity is not a thing of Mr. President even though we shouldn’t pass bulk since we all came on board. It’s a successive failure of various administration. Certain security hardwares were last purchased in the administration of President Shehu Shagari.
“After the various decays, the formation were shaky. Mr. President spend a lot money in buying lots of these equipments.
Boko Haram have been pushed to their ecplise even though they still have some of these existential killings, kidnappings and these forms of attacks.”
“Some of these crimes that we see today are more than we are looking at it on the surface. Majority of some of these crimes are politically motivated.”
He charged journalists to be fair in their reportage, especially as the country is gearing up for the 2023 general elections.
While expressing displeasure over the widespread of fake news, Bello, believes that the media can help mitigate the circulation of unverified reports that will put the country in disarray.
