Women across different sectors converged in Akure, Ondo State capital on Wednesday, for a solidarity walk in support of the Presidential ambition of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, calling on political parties to forget zoning arrangement and leave the position open on merit and competence.
The groups, despite of the heavy downpour, took to the streets, chanting solidarity songs and carrying various placards with inscriptions such as “Yahaya Bello, the best man for the job”, “We’re not interested in zoning, this is one Nigeria”, and “Yahaya Bello, hero of women inclusion”, among others.
The women who were said to have been drawn from over 700 groups across the country, include CSOs, market women, as well as entrepreneurs, professional actors, said the only solution to the nation’s political quagmire was for power to go to the youths, stressing that Governor Bello is the right man to become Nigeria’s next president.
While speaking, the leader of the South-West market movement for Yahaya Bello and Deputy National President, Market Women Association of Nigeria, Princess Nike Aroloye, disclosed that women are in total support of Bello and would mobilise massively for him come 2023.
Aroloye reiterated that anyone who had the interest of Nigeria at heart would not be drumming the beats of zoning, noting that the position is better left open for a competent and experienced man to turn the country around.
According to her, Yahaya Bello had demonstrated enough capacity in key areas of governance to make him the best for the job, adding that he was the only governor that had given women the right voice in governance.
She said: “Regardless of what political oppressors might have fed the public, it is an incontrovertible fact that Governor Bello had the capacity to build on President Muhammadu Buhari’s successes and tackle all challenges confronting Nigeria, headlong.
“We already see the ticket with Yahaya Bello. Once he gets it, we are marching straight to Aso Rock. All my market women are ready to support him. We will go everywhere for this cause. He has said we are important. We will give him the reward”
Also speaking, Rose Odika, a Nollywood actress who led other South-West female stars to the rally said, “I have said it before, and I will repeat it here. Yahaya Bello is the one we will support. From all he has done for women and for his state in general, he is the one to beat. We will only support those who support us.
“It has never happened before in the history of Nigeria for a leading presidential candidate to appoint a woman as the Director-General of his campaign.
“Anyone who supports us, we will support. His giant strides in Kogi is because he has intelligent women in the right places. He can repeat the same at the national level,”
In her response, the Director-General of Yahaya Bello Presidential campaign organisation, Hafsat Abiola-Costello, appreciated the women for their support, adding that the dreams of her mother for a better Nigeria for Nigerian women would be fulfilled with a Yahaya Bello presidency.
“I am so happy that Nigerian women have decided, for once, to take their destinies in their hands by supporting that one Governor that has given them so much voice and has made the world to see how women can turn stone into bread in a troubled economy. He will do the same for Nigeria.
“Seeing this huge honest crowd, I am confident that Yahaya Bello’s good deeds, belief in women, and giant strides in a women-filled government, have earned him the trust of Nigerian women. And I assure you, he will never forsake you. He has demonstrated this loudly in Kogi State,” she said.
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