Presidential election should be based on competence not zoning- Kogi Governor
Aanya Igomu, Abuja
Nigerians have been advised to focus on competence and capacity rather than regions when electing the next president of the country in the forthcoming 2023 General Election.
The Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello stated this at a media conference in Abuja.
Governor Bello is a presidential aspirant on the platform of Nigeria’s governing party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Governor Bello who was represented by Kogi state Commissioner of Information, Mr. Kingsley Fanwo said Nigerians need to stop bringing sentiments into politics.
“Until we challenge the status quo, that idiosyncratic page must be broken before you can be talking of progressing as a nation as a people. So it’s no more about rotation.
“The governor said, I’m going to quote him now. I was born in North Central. I was born an Egbira man. I did not choose to be an Egbira, I did not choose to be a norther. That should not determine criteria for hiring leaders,” he said.
Mr. Fanwo added that Nigeria needs a leader who is competent, has capacity, patriotic, a unifier and a bridge builder regardless of his ethnic background.
Speaking on the pedigree of the other aspirants vying on the platform of the APC, Mr. Fanwo said that the Governor has gained the required experience to govern adding that he wasn’t intimidated by the other aspirants.
“Not intimidated by their pedigree, profile experience and exposure and what they’ve done in the past.
“Now, when you compare that to what someone is doing at the moment, that I think they are the ones that should be intimidated right now. Because it is not about what you have achieved in the past.
“It’s going to be what you are doing now and what you can do for this nation from 2023. So the governor too has garnered some experience.
“He has been a chief executive of his state for the past six, seven years. And also, he has been able to see governance at that very close rates. So we are very confident that he’s going to do a great job for Nigeria,” he explained.
The Kogi state Commissioner further appealed to the media to focus on topics than will set agenda for the electioneering campaigns for the 2023 elections.
E/Suzan O.
