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| APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu |
The National leader of the All Progressives Congress APC, Bola Tinubu, has said it is his lifelong ambition to become Nigeria’s president.
He stated this on Monday after informing President Muhammadu Buhari of his ambition to contest for the position of president in 2023.
He also stated that he had the confidence, the vision and the capacity to build on the vision of the current President.
Tinubu said he was at the State House to see the President on general issues concerning Nigeria including some of the concerns in the APC as well as security issues.
On whether he has told the president about his ambition, he said: “I answer that with categorical yes. I’ve informed the President of my intention but I have not informed Nigerians yet. I’m still consulting. And I have no problem consulting. And I’ve set a parameter of limitation to the extent of how many people will I consult.
“You will soon hear. All you want to hear is the categorical declaration. You’ve gotten that truth from me that I have informed Mr President of my ambition, you cannot expect more answers than that.”
When asked how the president responded to his information, the former Lagos governor stated: “That’s our business. He is a democrat. He didn’t ask me to stop. He didn’t ask me not to attempt and pursue my ambition, is a lifelong ambition.
“So, why do I expect him to say more than that? You are running a democratic dispensation, and you must adopt the principles and the values and the virtues of democracy. That’s it.”
On how he sees a potential face-off between him and Osinbajo for the APC ticket, Tinubu responded: “I don’t want to discuss individuals now. I must discuss myself. I have the confidence, the vision, the capacity to rule, build on the foundation of Mr President, and turn Nigeria better.
“I have done that with commitment and unyielding you know, in Lagos State. You’ve seen that experience and the capacity to turn things around and that is what we are doing."
“You know, the confusion, the drift of the past in PDP is being corrected. And you can’t take away from that. As we are today, go back to the data on how many barrels of oil were we producing when we first came in and what it is today.
“We cannot even…at the time we came in we did not pay the counterpart funds to start our rail line. Today, you enjoy the comfort of having rail from Lagos to Ibadan, you have the Kaduna and you have the one for Kano state on the aggressive pipeline, you see excellent infrastructure. I just came from Azare and I have seen good roads. The carnage of dying on motor vehicles is reducing except you know, lack of compliance with a lot of Nigerian drivers and VIOs.
“Let us think back, let us be intellectually inquisitive as to the past and the present and what the future holds for Nigeria.”
Asked why he was not satisfied remaining a kingmaker rather than wanting to president, Tinubu said: “About the cap of kingmaker. I’ve never seen the cap of a kingmaker before. That is the truth. And I’ve never seen where it is written in the rule book anywhere in any country that a kingmaker cannot be a king unless you commit murder.
“So, whatever is your attribute is your own opinion. Me, I want to pursue my ambition without the title of a kingmaker. You can write your literature and your story based upon your own perception.”
The former governor was also asked how he would governor Nigerian if given the opportunity but said the question amounted to asking him to disclose his manifesto.
“You want my manifesto now? Not yet. Not yet,” he declared.