Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai says National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will get backing in the North should he decide to vie for the presidency in 2023, but added that the Southwest product will have to work for it just like Buhari did in 2015.
Former Minister of State for Works, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, who is the Chairman, Planning Committee, South West Agenda for Asiwaju Tinubu 2023 (SWAGA ’23), a movement recently launched in Ibadan, Oyo State, which endorsed the former Lagos governor for the next presidential election, described
Tinubu as a “dynamic, forward-looking, and experienced” personality, who could provide the needed “right leadership at this time”.
Explaining the choice of Tinubu, Adeyeye, said, “Nigeria at this present time needs very dynamic, forward looking, and experienced leader. Nigeria is at a crossroads and we have looked and searched and discovered that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu towers above every other politician in this country to offer the right leadership at this present time.
“This is why we are so much interested in the interest of Nigeria. It is not a selfish South West Agenda. It is actually in the national interest of Nigeria that we are making this effort to project him, to market him, and to sell him to other Nigerians.
“We believe that he is a fantastic product that we can market and sell, and that other Nigerians will embrace what we have seen, and also join the mass movement to support and ensure his victory at the poll.”
However, there are predictions that the north would keep power beyond 2023 when President Muhammadu Buhari leaves office.
Reacting to Tinubu’s rumoured ambition, Yakasai said that a section of the north would back his presidential ambition.
He said it would be difficult for Tinubu to get the full support of the north because the region does not speak with one voice.
Yakasai said, “People are talking of Tinubu. Before Buhari won elections, he contested on his narrow platform which was limited to the North and he didn’t succeed. He approached Tinubu and his group and he succeeded. Without their votes, Buhari wouldn’t have been President.
“Tinubu is likely to feature in the next presidential election. This is so because there are signs all over the place. So whoever wants that office should start working for it.
“The North is a complex entity made up of different zones. Some people are not members of the All Progressives Congress in the North but they won elections.
“What I can tell you is that there are people in the North who will support Tinubu and others who will support someone else. The North is more divided in terms of politics. There is no way it will speak with one voice in the politics of 2023.”ys