He also said during the race for the ruling party’s presidential ticket, he got to know that “some people’s needs are on Nigeria’s neck”.
This is as he also threw his weight behind the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
In a video posted on Facebook by his Chief Press Secretary, Onogwu Mohammed, Bello said he would not be deterred by detractors over his inability to clinch the party’s ticket while pledgeding to mobilise his state to support Tinubu and the party.
Addressing supporters upon his arrival in Lokoja, the state capital, the governor commended the people of the state and Nigerians at large for their support and love for him in the recently concluded APC presidential primary election.
He added that his decision to contest in the primary had earned him a lot of lessons about the political landscapes and actors in Nigeria.
He said, ‘‘If I hadn’t contested, I wouldn’t have gained the experience and lessons we have garnered today. Today, I know who the Nigerian elite are, nobody will tell me. If I hadn’t participated, I wouldn’t know what Nigeria’s politics is all about.
‘‘If I hadn’t participated. I wouldn’t have known that the needs of some people are on the neck of Nigeria. If I hadn’t participated, they wouldn’t know who Yahaya Bello is, and I wouldn’t have known their true colours.
‘‘But you know what, we are all winners; it’s just a matter of time. He who contests learns, gains experience, and prepares for another time; we live to win again.’’
The governor restated his filial support to the ruling APC and expressed confidence he would win the state for the party at all levels in the forthcoming polls.
‘‘Kogi state is for APC, APC is for Kogi state. The way we did it in 2015, we repeated it in 2019 for President Mohammadu Buhari, we must do it again in 2023 for Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
‘‘We are going to give a number that has never been scored in Kogi state before. And let me caution those who felt that the lion is sleeping – it’s a lie.
‘‘In this dispensation, Kogi state is ours, GYB is still in charge, and it is an abomination that in a jungle where the lion is the king, an antelope or a hyena will dare the lion.
‘‘We will deliver in Kogi state, we will mobilise the youth, the younger generation, the women, and Nigerians across the country, to deliver as much as possible for the All Progressives Congress – for our candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and to ensure that the chance remains open for us next time,’’ Bello vowed.
