April 11, (THEWILL) – An All Progressive Congress’ presidential hopeful and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has said he has no son grown enough to contest the ticket of the ruling party with him.
THEWILL had earlier reported that Tinubu met with some members of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) on Monday morning at the Kebbi State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, hours after Vice President Yemi Osinbajo declared his intention to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Tinubu said, “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 a replacement for President Muhammadu Buhari after his tenure.”
Asked to comment on the declaration of his political godson, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to contest for President, the former Lagos state governor simply said: “I don’t have any son grown up enough to make such declaration.”
“The fact that we have people in our party that express desire to lead the party into the highest office in the electoral contest shows how much this our party has resonated with Nigerians and our party members.”
Also, the chairman of the PGF and Kebbi state governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, told newsmen that there is nothing wrong in Vice President Osinbajo contesting the presidential ticket against his godfather, Asiwaju, arguing that it is confirmation of the quality of the party.
Asked if the duo contesting for the ticket is putting the governors in tight corner, he replied: “No, no, no. In fact, in 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.”
When asked to react to speculation that APC may adopt consensus candidate for the presidential ticket, Bagudu said: “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”, he assured.
Speaking on the purpose of the meeting, Bagudu said Tinubu met the governors to formally brief them on his intention to lead Nigeria after Buhari’s tenure in 2023.
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 which he has already announced publicly. He briefed us on his reasons, his thinking and his message.
“He met members of the PGF where he stated what he has said publicly his intention to seek the office of the President come 2023 which he had already announced before now.
“He briefed us on his reasons, thinking, and message. The governors graciously listened to him to digest everything he said.
“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.”
Bagudu noted that he responded on behalf of the governors, and assured the presidential aspirant that they (governors) would discuss the matter during their meeting and make informed decision on his message.
The governors who met with Tinubu are Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna; Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state; Simon Lalong of Plateau; Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano; Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi; Mai Mala Buni of Yobe; Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos; Hope Uzodimma of Imo; Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa; Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa, and Gboyega Oyetola of Osun.
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