2023: Tinubu, Osinbajo’s Ambitions Divide APC As Governors Await Buhari’s Verdict
- The governors elected on the platform of the ruling APC have met over the forthcoming national convention of the party
- Senator Sani Musa from Niger state is being supported by Bola Tinubu and some powerful chieftains of the party to become national chairman
- Governor Kayode Fayemi and his colleagues are reportedly rooting for the emergence of either former governor of Nasarawa, Tanko Al-Makura or Bawa Bwari
FCT, Abuja - The undisclosed presidential ambition of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is causing a disquiet among the stakeholders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Legit.ng reports that since the former governor of Lagos and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, declared his intention to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, some groups have been calling Osinbajo to run for the most exalted seat in the country.
Source: Facebook
Vanguard noted that the governors elected on the platform of APC are uncertain as to the direction ahead of the 2023 general election.
It stated that the governors said the seeming unwillingness of President Buhari to identify with either Osinbajo or Tinubu has put the two potential successors in a quandary.
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According to the report, Osinbajo’s fate is not helped by the claim of a ‘trust deficit’ that arose from his time as acting president in 2018, adding that since then, President Buhari has not again transferred presidential powers to his deputy.
It was gathered that the contest for national chairman of the ruling party was at weekend narrowing to a two-man race with former Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa state and erstwhile minister of solid minerals, Alhaji Bawa Bwari as the main contenders. The two candidates are being supported by the APC governors.
The governors, it was learnt, are now waiting on President Buhari for a final choice between the two men.
APC governors will determine party's national chairman
The determination of the governors to frame the National Executive and then determine the presidential candidate was despite the seeming visibility of the campaigns for Osinbajo and Tinubu.
Vanguard also stated that a high-level presidential source who spoke on the condition of anonymity while underlining the trust deficit, was quick to also note the influence of the governors who he said would determine the direction.
He said:
“Yes, the trust issue is not something that can be swept away easily, it is there, but you cannot remove the role of the governors who are the ones laying the bed. You don’t expect them to lay the bed for someone else to come and lie on.
“Well, you know he meets with the governors monthly for the NEC (National Economic Committee) and maybe he is deriving his strength from that. He meets with them and goes to commission their projects, even projects of opposition governors and maybe he is depending on that,” the high-level source said with a dose of sarcasm."
Vice President Osinbajo reveals how he became Buhari's running mate in 2014
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that amid the speculations of his interest in the presidency in 2023, a video of Professor Yemi Osinbajo speaking on how he emerged Nigeria's vice president in 2015 has surfaced on social media.
It was reported that the vice president spoke on his emergence as the nation's number two citizen when he visited that Reverend Dr. Udochi M Odikanwa at the Annual Convention of The Restoration Life Assembly Int’l in December 2021.
The vice president, a pastor and professor of law, attributed his emergence as the vice presidential candidate of the ruling APC to God, noting that he was not even politically strong enough to win a local government chairmanship election.
Source: Legit.ng
