Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
hehehehe.........According
to latest reports, a former governor of Lagos State is bracing up to be
the president of Nigeria ahead of 2019 election.
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief
Bola Tinubu, has been holding a series of meetings and consultations for
his bid for the presidency in 2019, THISDAY has reliably learnt.
According to sources close to the former Lagos State governor, he
is also putting together a team, preparatory for the race and has
developed an elaborative strategic plan to make a bold bid for the
coveted office.
In so doing, Tinubu, sources confirmed, has abandoned his initial
plan of aligning with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to
build a mega party to take on the APC in 2019.
Instead, Tinubu, the sources volunteered, has decided to remain in
the APC, a party that he played a pivotal role setting up in 2013 and
leading it to a historic victory in the 2015 elections.
Tinubu had hinted of his interest to contest for the presidency in
Akure last Friday when he told reporters during the inauguration of the
new governor of Ondo State, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), that he could
run for the office in 2019.
“There is nothing wrong with such ambition,” he said, adding: “It
depends on the timing, the environment and what the political
leadership dictates. I will not brush aside such an aspiration.”
Following his brushes with the leadership of the APC and his
perceived marginalisation in the Muhammadu Buhari administration, he was
said to have opted for building a huge alliance, using the PDP and some
other parties to form a new mega party that would serve as a
counterweight to the ruling APC and wrest power from it in 2019.
But Tinubu, according to sources, has had a change of mind and has decided not to leave a house he helped to build for others.
Although Buhari’s absence and concerns over his health, which may
rule him out of the contest in 2019, may have played a role in Tinubu’s
decision to contest for the presidency on the platform of the APC,
sources informed THISDAY that the former Lagos governor’s mind is made
up to make a go for the presidency.
According to a source in the know, “Asiwaju would actually prefer
that the president recovers and returns hale and hearty, but he does not
seek a second term.
“But even if Buhari decides to seek a second term, Asiwaju’s
mind is made up, as he will contest for the post in the APC under any
circumstances.
“He is tired of being a kingmaker and has decided that he will contest under any prevailing circumstances.”
In this regard, the source said Tinubu remains on course to build a
strong counter force within the APC, first in South-west, by stepping
up his efforts to reconcile with all his erstwhile political associates,
including former Governors Segun Osoba and Gbenga Daniel, as well as
other political leaders like Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose.
His goal, according to THISDAY sources, is that a reinvigorated
alliance in the South-west would help him checkmate his estranged
younger associates, including former Governors Kayode Fayemi and
Babatunde Fashola, as well as Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State,
who he believes are being used to clip his political influence in the
region.
With the South-west tidied up, the presidential aspirant is said to
be consulting widely in the North, reaching out to the region’s
political heavyweights and sourcing for alliances that will strengthen
his hand in building a strong base in that part of the country.
Already, Tinubu’s team has pencilled down three names as possible running mates, a source close to the APC leader disclosed.
They are Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State due to name
recognition and political considerations; Senator Abu Ibrahim who
represents Buhari’s Katsina South Senatorial District, to placate the
president’s people and power bloc; and possibly the Emir of Kano, Alhaji
Muhammad Sanusi II, his well-known political associate and an expert on
economic reforms that could prove very useful to a Tinubu presidency.
However, as Buhari’s absence opens the field for contenders for the
presidency on the platform of the APC, his aide responsible for
political affairs, Babafemi Ojudu, has raised the alarm over an alleged
plot by those in the opposition to cause a division between Buhari and
his deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
Ojudu, who spoke with State House correspondents in Abuja on
Monday, said all the successes recorded by Osinbajo while acting as
president were programmes already initiated by Buhari before he left for
the United Kingdom on vacation.
He also dismissed as baseless the claim by some clerics in Katsina
that Buhari was poisoned and cautioned journalists to be careful of what
they pick from the social media.
He said: “The way I will react to that is that those of you in
the media should be careful what you pick from the social media now, it
is becoming a factory for fake news in the Nigeria.
“A lot of things you see on the social media can never be true.
I saw that, I read it and I assessed it using the prism of these
factors – those indices we use to analyse stories in the media and found
out that it cannot be true.
“For example, they said someone stashed N77 trillion somewhere,
imagine that. What is the total value of Nigeria’s economy that they
decided to use the N77 trillion as the reason for some people to poison
him (Buhari), so that they can inherit the money?
“I mean we have a president that nobody in this country can
question his integrity. As a young officer, a middle officer, a senior
officer and as a head of state, till now, nobody has been able to
tarnish his image or come up with anything.
“For me, this is not even worth responding to. As soon as I read it, I dismissed it because it is so ridiculous.
“Again it is the handiwork of our enemies, the problem is that
fake news has almost become global and universal, and other countries
are experiencing it.
“Those who want to destabilise the country, they come up with
all kinds of stupid stories, some kind of unimaginable stories so we
should just discountenance those things.”
While warning mischief makers not to cause divisions within the
presidency, he insisted that most of the achievements attributed to
Osinbajo were programmes already initiated by Buhari.
He cited the acting president’s visits to the oil producing states
to consult with stakeholders, saying that the idea was Buhari’s.
He described those making the comparison between the president and his deputy as mischief makers.
He said: “Those people do not wish this country well. They are
always promoting a crisis. Persons who will not allow the people to
benefit from this democracy are the ones promoting these kind of
divisive tendencies.”
When asked to elaborate on the comparison of the performance of
Osinbajo with that of Buhari, which has the social media agog, he said:
“I think it is thoughtless. I also see it as a ploy by the opposition
to cause an unnecessary division.
“It is joint ticket, the president and the vice-president were
elected based on the manifesto of the party and since they were sworn
in, they have been committed to implementing that manifesto.
“The same people who said we never had an economic team, no
policy, nothing, are the ones saying this. It is now the policies we are
implementing are maturing and they are seeing the result? So it is not a
question of one person being better than the other person.”
According to him, there was nothing that has been done since the
vice-president started acting that was not already in the works before
Buhari’s vacation in London.
“A good example is the Niger Delta initiative: the president
called the vice-president and said I am giving you the mandate, go into
the Niger Delta meet with everyone who is a stakeholder, all the
communities, talk to the militants and make sure you solve this problem
for the benefit of Nigerians.
“And the president had said unless and until we resolve this
problem, we would not get out of the recession. So the VP took up the
mandate and went to the Niger Delta. In effect, it is the initiative of
Mr. President not that of the vice-president,” he added.
Ojudu also revealed that Osinbajo consults with Buhari almost
everyday, especially when major decisions are to be taken, adding that
Buhari remains the president.
He said: “He (Buhari) is in charge but, like I said earlier on,
this is a joint ticket and the president of Nigeria remains the
president of Nigeria. He (Osinbajo) is acting because it is one and the
same.
“Buhari is more experienced, he has been in the game longer
than the vice-president and if there are major issues that he needs to
take a decision on, he could call on him and say sir, ‘what do you think
about this we are about to take decision on it, do you have an
opinion’. So that does not mean he (Osinbajo) is not in charge.”
Ojudu restated that he had seen some publications aimed at causing divisions within the presidency.
“Some people who have been condemning everybody in the past, I
see them on Twitter and on Facebook and generally on social media. Some
people are trying to promote divisions and we are not going to allow
that.
“This president and vice-president work together and in tandem and I know they both have confidence in this nation,” he added.
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