NewsNigeria ElectionsYahaya Bello Declares For Presidency, Targets Making 20m Nigerians Millionaires By 2030 Inbox

ABUJA — Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello on Saturday formally declared to run for President in 2023 under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Governor made the declaration at Eagles Square in Abuja.

Bello while reeling out some of the plans he has for the country said the 2023 presidential elections are about the survival of Nigeria, adding that he would build on the legacy of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) by creating 20 million naira millionaires in the country by 2030.

“According to a BBC report of February 13, 2012, over 100 million Nigerians live in extreme poverty during the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) era,” the Governor said.

“In 2018, with APC in the saddle that figure has dropped to about 87m people yet Nigeria overtook India as the poverty capital of the world. Just this month, Nigeria through the effort of the President relinquished the title back to India and brought down the figure to about 70m people.

“It is therefore clear that our path to national prosperity lies in pulling millions of Nigeria out of poverty. The Buhari administration has a target of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by the year 2030.

“A Yahaya Bello presidency will have an additional target of creating 20 million naira millionaires by the same year, 2030 with the aim that each of them will empower five other citizens.

“In this regard, we are going to learn a lot from the South East. The apprenticeship model by which a boy, from an indigent or affluent background, is taken, trained and turned into a millionaire businessman in as little as 10 years is one we have to understudy and invest in.

“Harvard University already studies it and the Nigerian Government must do no less. I have personally observed that this model works on average 50 per cent of the time with at least five out of 10 boys who apprenticed with various Igbo friends of mine are millionaires today in their own rights.”

According to him, having been the Governor of Kogi State since January 27, 2016, Nigerians should assess his suitability to be president based on his scorecard of performance.

He said that economy, security, peace, and unity would be his watchword as he works to create a nation where everyone is carried along regardless of religion or tribe.

According to him, the slogan of his campaign is ‘Hope, Bridging the Gap’ because all he wants to do is bring hope to the nation while bridging the gaps in politics.

Bello said, “I will be running on the broad political philosophy of progressive activism through social action and political reforms. We are so blessed as a nation but yet he does not always seem so. I am running to restore hope by providing security, unity, and progress to all Nigerians.

“Our focus will be proper management of our great diversity so that it can really be an advantage.”

He added, “I have proven time and time again that I am the only such successor in the APC’s line-up for 2023. I am running for president because I see a bright light shining at the end of the tunnel for our nation. I am not one of those who only see doom and gloom.

“It is my intention to take custody of that light to pierce the dark spot in our past and present by eliminating every gap in our nationhood and fixing them.

“I will ensure that this light is handed over in due course to successors who will be trustworthy stewards of the great future which a federal government led by me will build for our nation.”

On insecurity, Bello assured that his presidency like his governorship would be tough on crime, adding that Kogi went from being the state where violent crime was most endemic in 2015 to becoming one of the safest states in Nigeria from 2017 to date.

He, therefore, said that terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, and other violent crimes would not be tolerated when he becomes the President and Commander-in-Chief.

The governor appointed the daughter of the presumed winner of the June 1993 presidential election, late Moshood Abiola, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, as the Director-General of his presidential campaign.