Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State has officially joined the Niger North senatorial race in the 2023 elections.
The governor made this known in a letter he personally signed on Sunday and made available to journalists in Minna, the state capital.
Bello stated that he decided the join the senatorial race following genuine pressure mounted on him by his commissioners and the people of Niger North senatorial district.
The governor stated that he did not want to run for Senate, but had to answer the clarion call from his people who urged him to represent them in the National Assembly.
“Although I did not want to run for the Senate after 8 years in office as Governor, I had to bow to the wish of many of you who had mounted this pressure genuinely,” he said.
He added that he was overwhelmed by the support he had received after indicating interest in the race, urging all aspirants to embrace fairness and equity in the 2023 elections.
Bello stated that the encouragement and solidarity shown by other aspirants from the zone and across political parties, whom he said had placed the interest of the zone far above their personal ambition.
Governor, however, disclosed that the forum of Serving Commissioners in the state has bought his expression of interest and nomination forms to contest in the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary.
Bello revealed that one of the key aspirants in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and governorship aspirant of the party, Umar Nasko, had stepped down in support of his ambition.
The governor said another prominent aspirant, Sani Duba, has also dropped his aspiration for him to emerge as the party’s flagbearer.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News