Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state has said his ambition for now is to help President Bola Tinubu succeed.
Mr Bello was one of the presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023. He lost the primary election to Mr Tinubu.
On Saturday, the governor said all Nigerians would succeed if President Tinubu succeeds. The governor who spoke at an interactive session with journalists at the 3rd Annual GYB Seminar for Nigeria’s Political & Crime Correspondents/Editors weekend in Abuja, said God had been kind to him.
“I thank God for my successes and achievements as governor of Kogi. I know where I met the state and am happy for where I have taken the state to.
“I believe that the APC candidate, Usman Ododo, will build on the solid foundation we have laid down for Kogi,” the governor said.
He said the 11 November Kogi governorship election will be a landslide victory for APC while reacting to a question of ensuring all members remained in the APC fold in the state.
“Our unity is why APC wins in Kogi and will continue to win.
“Our party is one. You cannot satisfy everyone. However, there are internal mechanisms in the APC to resolve issues and we always utilise that,” he said.
In a paper titled; “Unity in a Multi-Ethnic, Multi- Religious Society, the Kogi Story” the Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, said candidates should campaign on merit.
“Any candidate who campaigns on the basis of ethnic sentiments is incompetent.”
Fanwo said the state would continue to prioritise merit and not ethnicity to enable it grow.
Also in his paper on “Off Season Elections, Journalists as Responsible Watchdogs,” the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isiguzo, tasked journalists on responsible and ethical journalism.
Isiguzo said there was need for journalists to ensure transparency, check all facts and verify all information in their reportage.
The NUJ president noted that off-season elections presented challenges and opportunities for journalists to fulfill their role as responsible watchdogs of the society.
“I encourage all of us to approach the job with a sense of duty,
knowing that the quality of our reporting can influence the future of our nation.”
In a paper presented by the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Asiru Idris, he said the Yahaya Bello administration put in place deliberate policies to entrench good governance.
(NAN)