Bello spoke to State House Correspondents after he was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, at the Presidential Villa, yesterday.
Bello polled 406,222 votes to defeat his closest challeng- er, Musa Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who got 189,704 votes.
Bello said: “Just few hours ago, I received my certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission in Lokoja. That is the conclusion of the November 16th gubernatorial election that was held, that I won with landslide.
“I told you sometimes back that the issues of winning the election was not in question but the margin with which I will defeat my opponent, and that he will have no reason whatsoever to go to the tribunal. However, going to the tribunal is their right and if they so wish, we will meet in court.”
Oshiomhole described Bello as “bouncing baby boy,” and a bigger masquerade that has been tested and trusted and expressed confidence that his second term will impact the people positively.
“I think that for analysts and keen observers for Nigeria’s politics particularly the geo-political politics, you will agree that the victory of Yahaya Bello in Kogi State represents many things for those who truly believe that Nigeria’s politics should move away from sentiments, to dealing with people for who they are rather than where the come from,” he said.
“So for us in the APC, we are very proud and we presented him to the president. The president was very proud, of course he congratulated him, he was happy to see his certificate and he has encouraged us to recognise that the reward for hard work as they say is more work. And I am sure that governor Yahaya Bello having passed through the learning curve is going to approach the second term with all the vigor with eye for posterity and legacy marks in the development of Kogi state.
“We as party, we appreciate the people of Kogi State for standing by the party and voting for Yahaya Bello and I want to assure them that like we said during the campaign, governor Yahaya Bello will do everything possible to ensure that as they say to whom much is given much is expected.”