Senate President and Presidential hopeful under the APC, Ahmad Lawan, has launched a veiled attack on other aspirants in the ruling party, including Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former Lagos State Governor, and Rotimi Amaechi, the immediate past Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers state.
Lawan had, in a letter to APC delegates soliciting their support for him to emerge as the party’s flag bearer in the 2023 presidential election, warned the delegates not to vote for aspirants with heavy ‘baggage’.
APC will hold its Presidential Primary this weekend in Abuja, the nation’s capital and corruption, many say , is one of the factors being considered by the party which is curenttly screening its presidential candidates, to disqualify any aspirant.
Both Tinubu and Amaechi had already been screened by the John Oyegun Screening Committee ,and appear set to participate in the shadow election taking place in few days.
Apart from Tinubu and Amaechi other APC presidential hopefuls are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Emeka Nwajiuba, the immediate past Minister of State for Education, Governors Dave Umahi, Ben Ayade and Kayode Fayemi of Ebonyi, Ekiti and Cross Rivers states, respectively, amongst others.
Before he left for Spain on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari had a meeting with APC Governors where he asked for their support to chose his successor. It, however, remains unclear whether either the former Lagos state governor and APC National Leader or Amaechi, is the President’s choice as a successor. Speculations are, however, very strong that the President is leaning towards his Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
Buhari’s tenure ends next year and he’s required to hand over to a new government on May 29, 2023.
Sources in the Presidency told the magazine that Buhari is not likely to support any presidential aspirant in the party that has been accused of corruption.
Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that former Governor Amaechi must face the Rivers state Investigative panel on alleged corruption against him when he was governor for eight years in the oil-rich State. The Governor Nyesom Wike-led government has accused him of flinging some State- owned concerns and misappropriation funds belonging to the state.
Tinubu on his part has been accused of corruption while he was Governor of the State of Excellence, as Lagos is well known, while he was on the saddle between 1999 and 2007. His critics have particularly accused him of cornering Lagos funds, through the Alpha Beta Consulting, a tax collecting firm owned by the APC stalwart.
Tinubu has denied the allegations, and has also been set free by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT where he was dragged to, few years ago to explain the source of his wealth.
In spite of this, some Nigerians have often described the former Lagos helmsman as one of the most corrupt politicians in the country that does not deserve to become President.
Some say, the Senate President is trying to play on public perceptions of Tinubu and Amaechi to clinch the APC presidential ticket, after rumour spread that the Yobe born politician could be picked as the party’s consensus presidential candidate this weekend.
Speaking on the upcoming shadow poll, Lawan said the party stands the chance of winning the presidency if it elects him as its candidate because he has “absolutely no-baggage”.
“Permit me to write to you through this medium. As we converge at this great time, in this great party to begin the journey of determining the future of this great nation, we must be cognizant of the fact that the fate of Nigeria fluctuates,” Lawan said.
His letter to APC delegates reads further: “To all delegates across Nigeria, I beseech you to put pecuniary and monetary incentives aside and seriously consider what is ‘in the greater good.’ As you make your decision in picking the flag bearer of our party, I urge you to seek for a leader and not a politician.
“I ask you to choose a person that will lead and not rule Nigerians; one that will be understanding, tolerant, fair, honest, and progressive. A leader that comes with absolutely ‘No-Baggage.’
“A vital component of any logical, efficient and authentic evaluation of a person involves assessing past behavior. The key here is that one’s best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If one has always done something a certain way, they are likely to do that same thing in the same manner in the future.
“The same goes for how one navigates or pillages in leadership. Thus, as you, the delegates, are determining the APC party presidential flag bearer, it is important to look at past behavior to elicit what behaviors, avarice and rapacity candidates have exhibited in the past. It is important for you to access all candidates along this parameter,” the Senate President said.
For the records, Tinubu and Lawan are (were) close friends and associates. Lawan, a PhD holder, was Tinubu’s pick for the office of the Senate President in 2015 before Dr Bukola Saraki pulled the rug from under their feet.
