According to multiple sources, Bello recently approached the PDP Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu and some party leaders over the issue.
The Kogi State governor and member of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Yahaya Bello may work for the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general elections, SaharaReporters has gathered.
According to multiple sources, Bello recently approached the PDP Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu and some party leaders over the issue.
He was said to have promised to deliver the majority of votes cast in the presidential election in the state for the party’s candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The governor however asked the PDP to withdraw its support for its Kogi Central Senatorial candidate, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of the sources familiar with the meeting with Ayu told SaharaReporters.
“He approached our National Chairman and some people in PDP, he however gave them different conditions to work for us.
“One of them is that PDP should allow Natasha to lose the case in court so that Adamu Attah can be the senatorial candidate. He asked them to withdraw all legal support given to her. He said if that happens, he will allow Atiku and some PDP candidates to win Kogi,” the source told SaharaReporters.
Another source noted that Governor Bello is not close to former Lagos governor and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu and Tinubu's ally, James Faleke, despite being the National Youth Coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Council. Faleke is the Secretary of the Council.
According to sources, Bello does not feel relevant as an APC governor as he is being bypassed by the APC-PCC to deal directly with Faleke, especially as regards the allocation of funds for the election.
Another source added, “Don’t you know notice that he is not close to (Bola) Tinubu? The manner by which he became a governor and how he fought James Faleke in court after Prince Abubakar Audu died is still sore. Under normal circumstances, Faleke ought to be the governor and not Bello. He was Audu's running mate and Audu died after he won the election.
“And you know Faleke is very close to Tinubu. Currently, in Kogi, they have two groups in APC, Faleke's faction and that of Bello. All the money to fund elections in Kogi is being passed through Faleke; Bello team doesn’t get anything. Forget that he is the National Youth Coordinator of the APC-Presidential Campaign Council.
"You won't see him attending any meeting with Tinubu, you won't see him attending any of Tinubu’s rallies. They don’t invite him for anything regarding the APC Presidential bid. That’s why he feels he will have a softer landing in PDP.
“Moreover, he is planning on installing his own successor. With Tinubu’s presidency, this may be a difficult task for him.”