Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello on Tuesday said he would only step down from the presidential race if President Muhammadu Buhari asks him to.
Bello stated this after a meeting with the president in Aso Villa, Abuja.
“I respect President Muhammadu Buhari. If the president asks me to step down I will do,” he said.
Bello also dissociated himself from the so-called consensus plan by some persons in the party.
The governor stated that he was not part of the decision on the issue of power shift to the south as announced by 13 out of the 14 APC northern governors, insisting that he remains in the race and cannot be excluded from the ballot for Tuesday’s exercise.
He said: “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 election 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.
“However, I don’t think it is a decision of the party. It is a decision of 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 voice must be heard.”
On power rotation, the governor said he was never consulted by his colleagues, the northern governors, before a decision was taken.
