The President of the 36 Political Elevation Group, 36 PEG, Prince Dan. Olaitan Dada, has declared that former Governor Yahaya Bello remains Kogi State’s most potent political force ahead of the 2027 general elections, stating that the “White Lion” as fondly called cannot be buried by political propaganda or legal persecution.
Speaking from his office in Lokoja on Thursday while reacting to trending political analyses on Kogi Central, Prince Dan said 36 PEG, which mobilized interstate for Bello’s second term in 2019, has observed with keen interest the renewed calls by market women, artisans, bikers and students across Okene, Adavi and Okehi for Bello to contest the Kogi Central Senatorial seat in 2027.
“When Kogi Central speaks, Kogi listens, and Nigeria watches,” he noted.
Dr. Fashagba Celebrates Appointment of Alh. Abdullahi Bello as Commissioner Nominee
He recalled that in 2015, at 41, Yahaya Bello stared down Kogi’s political Goliaths to place second in the APC primary. When providence took Prince Abubakar Audu, the party handed him the flag and he won. “36 PEG mobilized from Kano to Lagos to Lokoja because history cannot be edited,” Prince Dan added.
According to him, Governor Bello redefined governance from day one, making Kogi the safest state in North Central, opening the Lokoja–Okene–Ajaokuta economic artery, establishing GYB Model Schools, returning youth to farms, and bringing women and youth into government for the first time.
He stressed that Bello’s blunt, unscripted style earned him the name White Lion because, “in the jungle of Nigerian politics, lions don’t negotiate with antelopes.”
The 36 PEG President said no man shakes a rotten system without stepping on snakes, and Bello’s war against the old order created enemies who today weaponize the EFCC. But Kogites on the streets of Okene, Adavi and Lokoja continue to ask, “Where is the stolen money?”
He cited analyst Musa Yahaya who stated, “In Kogi State, we know that our money is not lost,” and noted that during Bello’s tenure states received less than a quarter of today’s allocation yet he built, which proves the case is political.
Prince Dan said the April 2026 appointment of Yahaya Bello to the APC Finance Committee for the National Convention is not a sympathy seat but trust, strategy, and the party’s declaration that “We still need the White Lion.”
He pointed out that while ex-governors fade into guest lectures, GYB sits where money and power meet and even his critics whisper, “The man is still a factor,” because a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
He said 36 PEG’s position is clear: Yahaya Bello is not a political orphan but a movement, embodying tribe, loyalty, and performance in one man, and Kogi’s strongest export to national politics.
He insisted that those dissecting factors working in his favour are late because 36 PEG saw those factors in 2015 and they are still standing.
“This is bigger than Senate,” Prince Dan declared. “This is about justice, about rewarding courage so young leaders will not choose silence next time, about telling the world that Kogi does not use and dump her best. APC must not waste a tested general when 2027 war drums beat. Kogi must not abandon the son who took bullets for her. Nigeria must watch Kogi Central because a political statement will be made.”
He confirmed that 36 PEG will mobilize again ward by ward, state by state, online and offline as it did in 2019 and will do in 2027, because the White Lion left Lugard House but never left our hearts.
The jungle remembers its king, and Yahaya Bello stands yesterday, today, tomorrow.
