By Gideon Njoku
The campaign for a possible shot at the Presidential seat, in 2023, by the Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has kicked off. It got a boost a couple of days ago, when the Chairman of the Lagos State All Progressives Congress, Chief Henry Ajomole, told the Media that : “In 2023, Tinubu is the best man for the job.”
Before this, a couple of other people, including, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, a known Tinubu acolyte, said Tinubu will be good good for the seat.
This magazine was not able to confirm if Chairman Ajomole was speaking on behalf of the Lagos State APC, but he said there is no other person more suited to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 than Tinubu.
There have been strong speculations that Tinubu is desirous of the Presidential seat in 2023, but Tinubu has neither denied, nor confirmed his aspiration.
But he has, also, not asked his foot soldiers, who are seriously mobilising for him against 2023, to stop.
Tinubu’s speculated aspiration has divided both the APC, and the South-west zone where he comes from.
It has particularly, divided the APC Governor’s Forum.
Many of the Governors, reportedly, want one of their members to succeed Buhari. A combination of Ekiti State Govermor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai has been strongly touted.
More than a year ago, many had thought that el-Rufai was interested in occupying the number one seat. But he recently rubbished such thoughts by denying any interest in the Presidency. Instead, he backed a shift in power to the South, saying, “morally, it is the right thing to do”
His stand fuelled more, the speculation that he might run as Fayemi’s running mate.
None of them has said anything about such a combination, but this magazine can confirm that some APC intellectuals and technocrats, members of the Party’s brain box, are already thinking along that line, and working on, and for its possible success.
But this other day, on a visit to Tinubu, with a number of Traditional Rulers from his state, Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, said that a victory for the APC in the October 10 Governorship election, would show how serious the Yoruba is with their aspiration to the Presidency in 2023.
While this magazine cannot confirm if the Governor made the statement as a support for Tinubu’s speculated aspiration, or he was just talking to cement Tinubu’s absolute support for his re-election, it is instructive that he found it convenient to do so during a visit to Tinubu and, in the presence of Traditional Rulers
However, Chief Ajomale, a firm suppoter in Tinubu’s aspiration in 2023, believes that the APC leader has the capacity to turn Nigeria around.
Ajomale: ” I am in support of the fact that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is the best man to succeed Buhari in 2023. I will support that without any hesitation because Asiwaju Tinubu has traversed the whole country. He knows where the problems of each constituent are, and he has the solution to it. These problems are diverse because the problem they have in Ondo is not the same as the one in Kano.”
Citing Tinubu’s tenure in Lagos as a two-term Governor as a pointer to his capacity, Ajomale said: “Tinubu was a Governor, and we know the role he played in the development of Lagos which makes it an envy to other States. If a man can develop the monthly IGR from N600m to billions of Naira, and even when Obasanjo stopped the monthly allocations to Lagos, he was still running Lagos seamlessly.
“I believe if given the opportunity, he will turn Nigeria around for better.”
Flaunting Tinubu’s seeming pan-Nigerian acceptance, the Lagos APC Chairman said:
“If people like Babachir Lawal from Adamawa, and Tanko Yakassai are rooting for Asiwaju, it goes to show that the man is a pan-Nigerian.
“I am not saying he is a Saint, or he is perfect. There is nobody who is perfect, except God. You may not like his face, but you should like the idea and experience he had to make Nigeria better. He is a financial expert, so there is nothing the Minister for Finance will tell him that he doesn’t know.”
Former APC Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, and his sympathisers believe he was sacked from office to checkmate Tinubu’s chances in the race for Buhari’s replacement in 2023.
In 2015, according to knowledgeable sources, Tinubu was billed to be President Buhari’s running mate, but a number of people, including forner Senate Presdent, Dr Bukola Saraki, stood against it because they felt a Muslim-Muslim ticket was unsellable to Nigerians. Tinubu said it was Buhari who made the offer to him.
According to Saraki, Tinubu never forgave him for scuttling the ticket.
In Tinubu’s stead, now Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was given the nod to run with Buhari.
