James Orji
The more time Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress, APC spends abroad to take care of his failing health the more Vice President Yemi Osinbajo gains popularity among members of the party who wants him to succeed President Buhari.
Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos state whose presidential ambition is no longer a secret, has been in London for weeks to take care of an undisclosed ailment, prompting suggestions that he is no longer fit for the job.
The APC leader has continued to receive guests, including President Buhari in London where he currently lives due to his health.
His condition has prompted some elements in the party to be seriously thinking of drafting Osinbajo, who in 2015 rode on Tinubu’s back to the position of the vice president.
Top sources in the APC said the push for Osinbajo’s candidature will further polarise the party, as Tinubu’s supporters would likely not accept the plan to sideline the former governor.
“The Lagos APC will not accept this. We believe that Osinbajo is fully on our side over the Tinubu’s president. Asiwaju is coming back soon, he’s the future of APC,” a local government chairman and consumate supporter of the former governor told the magazine in confidence, because he was not authorised to speak on the issue on Monday.
The number two citizen in the country has yet to declare his interest in the race, but his supporters are already doing the job for him.
Recently, his posters alongside Governor Ganduje of Kano state have dotted Abuja, the nation’s capital and other major cities in the country, a development many Nigerians said is an indication that the the former Commissioner for Justice under former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos state, is interested in the top job.
This school of thought may not be wrong, following efforts by some politicians in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC to install him as the party’s presidential candidate in 2023.
The politicians under the aegis of the Proogressive Consolidation Group, PCG said Osinbajo is the best candidate to succeed Buhari.
The group who has been meeting stakeholders in the party, including APC governors, had met with Governor Bello Masari of Katsina state to press for Osinbajo’s candidature.
It has also met with the Emir of Daura, over its goal to push for Osinbajo’s presidency.
Aliyu Rabiu Kurdish, the chairman of the group said it has made great strides in the quest to install Osinbajo president in 2023, adding that it will be in the interest CV of the country for the vice president to succeed his boss.
“Every passing day, we see further indications of success in our mobilization and advocacy efforts towards ensuring that Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari and sustains our party, APC’s progressive ideals.
“We deeply appreciate the warmth and hospitality offered by the people and government of Katsina state during our visit to Government House, Katsina last Friday as well as our visit to His Royal Majesty, the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Faruk Umar Faruk last Saturday.
“We assure all true Progressives and members of the APC in Nigeria and abroad that at the government house, at the Palace and in our strategic meetings with various stakeholders drawn from all the local government areas of Katsina state, our concerns for stability, unity, peace and progress of Nigeria profoundly resonate.
“Looking at the extant developmental challenges that the country is contending with, it is only wise for the party to choose a most qualified and most acceptable candidate to sustain and improve on the positive gains, achievements and legacies of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“It is in view of this development that we at the PCG feel convinced that an Osinbajo presidency in 2023 will bring down tension, facilitate stability and accelerate further progress in all sectors of the economy.”
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Lagos state House of Assembly, Mudasiru Obasa and other members in the assembly have visited the former governor where he’s said to be recuperating.
