Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has pretended to be unaware of his erstwhile political godson, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s presidential proclamation on Monday, claiming that he has no son mature enough to have made such a declaration.
The news came as the APC’s governor announced that they would meet shortly to discuss Mr Tinubu’s presidential ambitions.
They also disputed that the ambitions of Messrs Tinubu and Osinbajo had caused a schism among the APC governors.
Tinubu spoke in Abuja on Monday, immediately after meeting with at least 12 APC governors.
The meeting took place just hours after Mr. Osinbajo declared his candidacy for the presidency in 2023.
On Sunday night, Osinbajo, a Tinubu protege, met with APC Governors to inform them of his intention. Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Babagana Umara Zulum (Borno), and Babajide Sanwoolu met with the VP on Sunday night (Lagos).
The discussion, which had Tinubu’s presidential ambition on the agenda, was held behind closed doors at the Kebbi State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, on Monday.
Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the governor of Kebbi state, is the chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum PGF, a think-tank for governing party governors.
Governors Gboyega Oyetola of Osun, Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano, Mohammed Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, and Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Kebbi met with Tinubu (Lagos). Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara, Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau, Hope Uzodinma of Imo, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, and Dapo Abiodun of Nasarawa were among the others (Ogun).
Tinubu said after the meeting that he met with the governors to gauge their support.
He also stated that he does not have a “son” who is old enough to make a presidential declaration.
“My mission here is to seek collaboration, support and encouragement of my party, the APC, for my ambition to become the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as replacement for President Muhammadu Buhari after his tenure”, he stated.
“I don’t have any son grown up enough to make such a declaration,” Tinubu remarked of his “son” Osinbajo’s presidential bid.
Bagudu, the Chairman of the PGF, also spoke, saying that both men’s ambitions have not generated any dissension among the governors.
He said; “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, this morning, met members of the Progressive Governors Forum where he stated what he has made public already -his intention to seek for the office of the President come 2023. He briefed us on his reasons, his thinking, and his message.
“All the governors in attendance graciously came to listen to him. He acknowledged the role of the Governors in the last convention of our party, where, according to him, the governors of the party steadied the party by helping in the evolution of the leadership that is accepted and widely acknowledged as that which we wish for our party. We appreciated him, his message and will definitely discuss the message at one of our forum meetings”.
“In fact, on the contrary, we appreciate our party because it has become a party that has endeared itself to Nigerians. We have many brilliant people in our party, some serving and some not serving. The fact that we have people in our party that express desire to lead the party into the highest office in electoral contest shows how much this our party has resonated with Nigerians and our party members.
“For us, it is a hallmark of success that people are showing interest, but at the end of the day and because they are leaders of the party, they will always put the party’s interest at heart.
“We always encourage our party to go for the best. Don’t forget that in the 2015 presidential election primary, President Buhari contested against several others and it was a beautiful contest. There is nothing wrong. Members of the party always want to see consensus if it is possible but we are a democratic party.
“In our last convention, we had consensus in some of the offices and election in some others. There is always misrepresentation of consensus as if people are being snowballed into positions they would rather not take.
“APC has done well as a party, President Buhari has led the party ably well and we believe strongly that come 2023, Nigerians will see another President of the APC extraction”.
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