A youth organization functioning under the aegis of the Presidential Support Council has rejected Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello’s appointment as the National Youth Coordinator of the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign council for the 2023 general election.
Bola Tinubu, the APC’s presidential candidate, has approved Bello’s selection to lead the party’s youth during the presidential campaigns, which are set to begin on September 28, 2022.
Kassim Muhammad, the group’s national chairman, announced at a news conference in Lafia on Monday that they did not support the nomination since it would be made to someone under the age of 40.
The organization then demanded that the governor of Kogi State publicly reject the offer in order to allow party youths to contribute to the presidential campaign council as well.
He went on to propose that Governor Bello, who ran for president in the party’s most recent primary election, should be given a larger role in the campaign council rather than the position of youth coordinator.
“There are capable young people within the party who have the capacity and capability to handle that post in the Presidential Campaign Council,” Muhammad, a former Nasarawa State House of Assembly member, asserted. “That would have given Nigerian youngsters more confidence in the incoming APC administration led by Bola Tinubu.”
“We recognize Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s contributions to young people’s growth and development.” He has aided numerous young people across the country who are now successful adults in their different fields.
It is, however, incorrect to appoint an active governor to a job that should be filled by a young person. Governor Yahaya Bello is too big for such a post, hence the nomination should be reconsidered.
The only way to ensure that the new government is inclusive is for the party and its presidential candidate to ensure that the National Youth Coordinator is a young person.
“The most recent estimate of Nigeria’s population was 198 million, and youths between the ages of 15 and 40 make up half of the population; therefore, for the purpose of inclusivity, any leadership in the nation should prioritize the youths.”
The Presidential Support Council includes over 300 young organizations, and we have all determined that Governor Yahaya Bello is not the proper person to lead the APC presidential campaigns for the general election in 2023.
