2023 Presidency: Former Lagos Governor affirms calls to contest

The National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), and former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, says he will not turn down calls to contest for the 2023 presidency.

Tinubu stated this in an interview with journalists shortly after a closed-door meeting with Abuja’s Northern Alliance Committee members.

Many support groups have sprung up rooting for the politician, with others calling on him to contest for the presidency. The former governor of Lagos State, who is yet to declare for the presidency formally, had recently told a founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, that he would be contesting.

Speaking, the APC bigwig said he was still consulting and brainstorming with his friends and political associates, adding that he would tell Nigerians his intention at the appropriate time.

“I’m not going to turn them down, but I will effectively and widely consult, particularly brainstorm with my friends and find a date to come out openly and tell Nigerians. 

“But the president is still in office. I don’t want to distract him from all the challenges he might face today. So, we will consult and make our programme known to the people later, and the intention is clear. So, you keep guessing,” Tinubu said.

As he was speaking with reporters, the group chairman, Amb. Lawal Mohammed Munir said the meeting was very successful.

“The meeting ended very well; we are working for him. We are working for him because we know he will win the election when the time comes,” he said.

The group presented a book to him, saying it would guide him in running the country when he eventually becomes president. Our correspondent reports that members of the group that attended the meeting were not popular in the country’s political scene. The meeting started before 4 pm and lasted for over two hours in the Jabi area of Abuja.

Reports state that Tinubu was not in the company of any prominent politician during the meeting. Meanwhile, the Steering Committee for Tinubu’s presidential campaign has been inaugurated in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ahead of the 2023 general poll.

The event held at the National Secretariat of the Tinubu Support Group (TSG) at Maitama-Abuja, drew Tinubu’s supporters from different parts of the country and the FCT.

Speaking at the event, a former chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and Coordinator of the TSG in the FCT, Zephaniah Bitrus, said the essence of the event was to put structures in place to ensure that Tinubu succeeded President Muhammadu Buhari at the expiration of his tenure in 2023.

Suzan O./DT