Kogi people will vote President for 2nd term - Bello

Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has promised President Muhammadu Buhari that the state stands solidly behind him in his ambition to secure another four years in the Presidential Villa.

The president ended months of speculation when he officially announced his intention to seek re-election in the 2019 presidential election during a meeting with the National Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, April 9, 2018.

While reacting to the announcement, the governor, who was at the NEC meeting, said in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Kingsley Fanwo, that the president has responded to the demands of the people to run again.

The governor said the people of Kogi are happy with the president's policies and will deliver more than the 264,851 votes that he got there for the 2015 presidential election.

He said, "I am a staunch supporter of Mr President and I am proud to be associated with such a great leader and personality. We thank Mr President for listening to the voices of Nigerians who are satisfied with his performance. Kogi people were the first to organize rallies in different towns and cities to call on Mr President to seek re-election.

"As the leader of the state, I wish to assure Mr. President that my people are solidly behind his policies of economic recovery, security and the fight against corruption. Kogi will deliver to Mr President, more votes than the state gave in 2015.

"We are going to focus on the economic recovery of our state and ensure more people are empowered to become productive. That has been the mainstay of our economic policies as a government.

"President Muhammadu Buhari has not lost his magic touch. He is a trusted leader who the masses want as their President beyond 2019. But it is also instructive for us to know that corruption will begin to fight back with renewed vigor to stop the march of the masses. We shall triumph.

"Today's declaration of Mr President for second term has further reinvigorated our belief that he will continue to make sacrifices for the greatness of our nation."

A lot of public reactions has trailed the president's announcement, with former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, comparing him to a trespassing masquerade who doesn't know when to stop. She said the president's second term ambition will spell the end of his reign as the nation's leader as well as the end of a "decadent political class."

In the official reaction of the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP), they said the president's announcement is nothing to talk about until he wins the APC's nomination.

2019 presidential race

Motivational speaker and leadership coach, Fela Durotoye, became the second aspirant to officially declare his intention to contest for president after he joined the Alliance for a New Nigeria (ANN) on February 22, 2018. Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of online news platform, Sahara Reporters, declared his intention to run just days later on February 25.

Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose,was the first aspirant to have officially declared his intention to contest after his announcement in September 2017.

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, Lagos-based businessman, Ahmed Buhari, and IT entrepreneur, Adamu Garba II are also in the running.

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, is expected to be President Buhari's biggest challenger after he left the APC and moved back to the PDP.