Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, says any attempt to exclude him from participating in the presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is “recipe for bigger trouble”.

He said this on Tuesday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Earlier on Tuesday, Simon Lalong, governor of Plateau, had said the APC governors had recommended five “frontline” aspirants — all from the south — to contest the primary.

But speaking with state house correspondents, Bello said he will resist any attempt to exclude him from contesting.

“I am a free citizen and a qualified member of the party. I am contesting. I bought the form, was cleared to participate in the primary, and there is no reason for me to be excluded from the ballot. If they do so, then that is a recipe for a bigger trouble for the party,” he said.

“However, I don’t think it is a decision of the party. It is a decision of a few elites who may decide to use their position to oppress the so-called minority. But I want to prove that in this country, I am not in the minority. I belong to the younger generation and Nigerians that are oppressed and are saying that their voices must be heard.

“I believe strongly that getting into that arena today, I will win overwhelmingly if the process and normal regulations are followed; I will emerge victorious.”

According to Bello, his meeting with Buhari was to explain why he excluded himself from the meeting involving northern APC governors and the president.

The northern APC governors, after the meeting with Buhari, had insisted on power shift to the south.

“I am a unifier. I have demonstrated that severally in my state and in carrying out various tasks that I was given by the party. So, nobody consulted me over the decision that power be shifted to the south and I would say they were enrolled by a certain interest that wants to be the vice-president at all costs,” he said.

“And I continue to oppose the issue of turn-by-turn presidency because the insecurity that is facing us today does not respect that. Every part of this country is faced with insecurity and wants prosperity and we want unity in this country, which is what I stand for.

“Who should be able to solve that problem is what should occupy our minds now, not rotational presidency.”

In the wake of the controversy that greeted the announcement of Senate President Ahmed Lawan as the consensus candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC by the Chairman of the Party, Adamu Abdullahi, former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu has said the Chairman could not have acted on his own.

When asked if the decision was from the President, Kalu said, “The Chairman of the Party can not be acting on his own, alone. That, you should know. He can never act on his own. The President (Buhari) is the leader of the party. What is wrong with that? Ahmed Lawan is a member of the party and he has served the party very well,” he said.

He added, “If the Chairman of the party had said that, it is the choice of the party and the choice of the party is the choice of the President. He (Adamu) would come up with an official statement.”

Asked if it is in the place of the National Chairman to announce a consensus candidate for the primaries, Kalu simply said the Chairman of the party is the head of the party.

“All we are trying to say is that the party is supreme. Supremacy of the party lies in the hands of the National Chairman. It doesn’t lie outside the party. It’s inside the party,” he said.

Kalu acknowledged that Abdullai Adamu is an experienced and credible man.

While trying to shed light on the meeting that preceded the controversial announcement, he said, “They had NWC meeting and the NWC on their wisdom from the consultation that had been made selected Ahmed Lawan as a consensus candidate.”

He stated that people in the NWC (National Working Committee) of the APC confirmed the development to him.

Kalu did not agree that there was a disagreement in the meeting on the choice of Lawan, rather he said, “No No, one or two people out of 23 just said no, but the majority had their way.”

According to reports, there were attempts by the press to speak to Adamu at the APC secretariat in Abuja, but the Chairman would not speak as he angrily walked away and drove out of the secretariat.

Meanwhile, there has been no response yet from the APC to confirm whether what Adamu had said was official or it was just a rumour.

Since he withdrew from the presidential race, Kalu has been rooting and rallying support for Lawan, whom he vouched, has all the capacity to be the next president of the nation.

Recall Kalu, had on a national TV, said he would be willing to take a job of sweeper in the Aso Villa, should the President of the Senate be elected Nigeria’s next President in 2023.

Governors who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have submitted the names of five presidential aspirants to President Muhammadu Buhari to select a consensus candidate according to Daily Trust.

The governors submitted the names in the early hours of Tuesday, and the names included that of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti State), Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transportation, and Governor Dave Umahi (Ebonyi State).

The governors had after meeting with the President said they will return to the villa after meeting with the party’s National Working Committee(NWC) and other stakeholders.

“They picked one from South-East, one from South-South and three from South-West geopolitical zones in line with their position that power should shift to the South,” he said.

He said the president is expected to pick from the list.

The presidential primary of the party holds today. The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan was named as the consensus candidate by the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu. This was, however, punctured by the presidency.

Governors on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Monday, rejected the Senate President, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan as the consensus 2023 presidential candidate.

The governors at a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, insisted that there must be a power shift which they noted would be too risky for the APC, if rotation was disallowed.

The National Chairman of the APC Senator Abdullahi Adamu had anointed Lawan as the consensus candidate, a development that is currently causing ripples among the governors and other party stakeholders.

The announcement came a few hours to the National Convention, which was expected to produce the APC’s flag bearer within the next three days.

Earlier in the meeting of the National Working Committee of the APC, which was presided by Senator Abdullahi Adamu, some members of the Committee vehemently opposed Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan as consensus candidate.

Those who opposed Lawan argued that the party must respect zoning and allow the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and others cleared by the Screening Committee to contest, if APC must keep power at the centre.

Earlier in his brief with the State House correspondents after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and incumbent Governor of Plateau State, Barr Simon Lalong, made their position known in the interest of justice, equity and fair play.

Lalong said: “13 of us apologised to the President for receiving the information about our position after it was leaked.”

Contrary to the position of most Northern Governors on power shift to the South National Chairman of thee All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullah Adamu has announced Senate president Ahmad Lawan as APC consensus presidential candidate.

Adamu, announced this at the meeting of theN Working Committee, NWC, on Monday, in Abuja.

However, some members of the NWC, sources said, kicked against the move and insisted that other Presidential aspirants which include Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Engr. David Umahi must be allowed to contest the primary election at tomorrow’s convention scheduled at the Eagle Square, Abuja.

Adamu’s adoption of Lawan as consensus candidate is against the position of 11 APC nothern governors who endorsed that power must shift to the South after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.

Adamu told the NWC that he arrived at the choice of Lawan after consultation with President Buhari.

Buhari, Northern govs in closed-door meeting

Reacting to the move, some APC northern governors raced to Aso Villa and currently meeting with -President Muhammadu Buhari.

The meeting is coming a day before the commencement of the party’s convention to elect its presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections.

Although President Buhari has maintained his position on the consensus arrangement, there has not been any agreement among the 23 presidential aspirants.

The meeting with the APC governors from the North is the fourth parley in his effort to ensure that the party presents a consensus candidate so as to reduce acrimony that may arise at the end of the convention.

The governors in attendance are Chairman of Progressive Governors Forum and governor of Kebbi state, Atiku Bagudu, chairman of Northern governors Forum and governor of Plateau State, Simeon Lalong, Abubakar Baduru (Jigawa) and Babagana Zulum (Borno).

Others are Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Bello Matawale (Zamfara), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Yahaya Inuwa (Gombe), Abubakar Bello (Niger), and the Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni.

Only the governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello was yet to arrive.