National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and frontline contender for the 2023 presidential race, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has said he has no son grown enough to contest the ticket of the ruling party with him.
Tinubu, on Monday, met behind closed doors with some governors of the party to seek support and encouragement.
Tinubu said the meeting was part of his consultation with relevant stakeholders to actualise his ambition of replacing President Muhammadu Buhari after the expiration of his tenure in 2023.
The governors who met with Tinubu were Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Simon Lalong of Plateau State, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa State and Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State.
Asked to comment on the declaration of his ‘political godson’, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to contest for President, the former Lagos State governor simply said: “I don’t have any son grown up enough to make such declaration.”
On his mission, Tinubu said: “My mission here is to seek collaboration, support and encouragement of my party, the APC, for my ambition to become the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as replacement for President Muhammadu Buhari after his tenure.
Also speaking with newsmen after the meeting with Asiwaju, the chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) and Kebbi state governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, said that there was nothing untoward in the ruling paty opting for consensus candidate during its presidential primary.
He also claimed that there is nothing wrong in Vice President Osinbajo contesting the presidential ticket against his godfather, Asiwaju, arguing that it is confirmation of the quality of the party.
Asked if the duo contesting for the ticket is putting the governors in tight corner, he replied: “No, no, no. In fact, in the contrary, we appreciate our party because it has become a party that has endeared itself to Nigerians. We have many brilliant people in our party, some serving and some not serving.
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“The fact that we have people in our party that express desire to lead the party into the highest office in electoral contest shows how much this our party has resonated with Nigerians and our party members.
“For us, it is a hallmark of success that people are showing interest, but at the end of the day and because they are leaders of the party, they will always put the party’s interest at heart,” he argued.
When asked to react to speculation that APC may adopt consensus candidate for the presidential ticket, Bagudu said: “We always encourage our party to go for the best. Don’t forget that in the 2015 presidential election primary, President Buhari contested against several others and it was a beautiful contest.
“There is nothing wrong. Members of the party always want to see consensus if it is possible but we are a democratic party. In our last convention, we had consensus in some of the offices and election in some others. There is always misrepresentation of consensus as if people are being snowballed into positions they would rather not take.
“APC has done well as a party, President Buhari has led the party ably well and we believe strongly that come 2023, Nigerians will see another President of the APC extraction,” he assured.
On the reason for the meeting with the governors, he said: “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, this morning, met members of the Progressive Governors Forum where he stated what he has made public already -his intention to seek for the office of the President come 2023 which he has already announced publicly. He briefed us on his reasons, his thinking and his message.
“All the governors in attendance graciously came to listen to him. He acknowledged the role of the Governors in the last convention of our party, where, according to him, the governors of the party steadied the party by helping in the evolution of the leadership that is accepted and widely acknowledged as that which we wish for our party. We appreciated him, his message and will definitely discuss the message at one of our forum meetings,” he said.
