Yahaya Bello, the governor of Kogi state has been told to jettison his 2023 presidential ambition.

The call was made by the North Central Council of the All Progressives Congress.

The group said the reason for the call is because the presidency will be going to the southern region of the country.

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the APC council asked the governor to drop his ambition and rather pursue the chairmanship of the party which would be taken to the North Central geopolitical zone.

At a news conference Thursday at the APC National Secretariat of the party in Abuja, the APC Council Coordinator, Dr Kassim Muhammad, said, “The North Central Council is equally appealing to the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello to have a rethink over his 2023 presidential ambition as it will be fair in the spirit of one Nigeria to allow the southern part of the country to produce the next president come 2023.

“We strongly believe that conceding the presidential ticket of our party, the APC to the southern part of the country would enhance equity and political justice. We believe that the Kogi State Governor is a true democrat who believes in one Nigeria.”

“We are therefore appealing to HE Yahaya Bello to drop his presidential ambition, and join us in the campaign to ensure that the North Central produces the next APC National Chairman,” the council added.

It also appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and all the APC governors and other key stakeholders of the party to continue to support the Mai Mala Buni-led APC to succeed in his task of repositioning the party for future elections.

“However, as the party prepares for a convention that will usher in democratically elected national executives, we the North Central Council are appealing to our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC governors as well as key stakeholders of the party across the country to consider the North Central for the position of the National Chairman of the party.

“The reasons for this agitation stems from the fact that the North-West as presently constituted has a sitting President of the country who is still left with two years to complete his eight years tenure in office.

“The North-East is presently occupying the position of the Senate President, and the only geopolitical zone in the North left is the North Central and for fairness and equity, the national chairmanship of the party should be zoned to the North Central,” the group added.