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By Lateef Adegbite
For months, there have been speculations that Yemi Osinbajo, Nigerian Vice President has Presidential Ambition but he had kept it a closely guided secret. He was said to have been doing his underground consultations in order to win the party members support.
Nigerians had expected the Legal luminary and who incidentally is a Pastor in the Redeem Christian Church , of God to follow suit to make his intention known of contesting the 2023, Presidential elections on the ticket of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC.
The pressure on him to make his intention known became pronounced when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Senators Orji Uzor Karlu, and Rochas Okorocha, all former governors of Lagos, Abia and Imo states, respectively, including Engineer Dave Umahi, governor of the south east state of Eboyi state show their interest to contest the 2023 Presidential elections after consulting President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired Army.
Signs that the Nigerian Vice President has the backing of the Katsina state born Nigerian President to contest for the 2023, general elections, began to manifest when he noted that for the over seven years he had served the country’s Vice President ‘’there have never been any misunderstanding between him and the retired Army General stressing that both of them are deeply religiously and committed to the unity of the country.
Olawale Shodeinde, a Chieftain of the ruling APC, may have prepared the mind of Nigerians on Sunday, April10, 2022, that in a few hours that Osinbajo, who many believe has been under intense pressure from the Tinubu’s Camp to drop his Presidential Ambition. He had expected him to join Babajide Fashola, a former governor of Lagos state and minister of Works and Housing, Rauf Aregbesola, a onetime governor of Osun state and minister of Interior including Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti state and Chairman of Nigerian governors Forum, NGF, to support his 2023 Presidential bid but got it wrong.
He may have bowed pressures from both official and unofficial sources, who had insisted that he has ’’to invoke the doctrine of service above self and make an open declaration to over 200 million Nigerians who are patiently waiting on his 2023 Presidential bid’’.
The Nigerian Vice President may have won the support of various groups within the period he had acted as the country’s President during the long absence of the retired Army General, on health ground some few years ago and was able to hold the country together despite the security challenges. Even the value of the naira was said to have appreciated tremendously during the period.
This may have informed why the unknown APC gladiators, particular, from the North, have piled up pressure on him since the ban on politics was lifted by the Mahmood
Yakubu, a Professor, led Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The APC gladiators and other prominent faceless Nigerians ad seen seen him as the only credible person in the party for now that could match any presidential aspirant that migh be thrown up by the Opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to contest the 2023, general elections and win effortlessly.
There are indications that the PDP, may zone the Presidential slot to the south east which has not ruled the country since the return of Democracy in 199. Atikuku Abubakar, a former during Olusegun Obasanjo Administration, who had contested the APC Primarie, in 2014, but lost to Buhari . This may have forced him to return to PDP, a party he had helped to nurture in 2017. He may have seen that that he does stand of the PDP Presidential Primaries with the likes of Aminu Tambuwal, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and now gover of Soko, the state Caliphate state and Bala Muhammed, a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, during Goodluck Jonathan Administration, and now governor of Bauchi state, that he had given his word to withdraw from the race if it is zone to the south east.
As a prelude to making his Presidential bid public, osinbajo was said to have held a closed door meeting with the governors of the ruling APC, on Sunday, April 10, 2022, as part of the ongoing nationwide Consultations at his Aguda House. On Monday, April 11, 2022, he had made his public declaration of his intention ‘’to run for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on the ticket of the APC, confirming what Shodeined , a member of the support Groups , from the south west had aid.In making the declaration, he had said that his ‘’experiences, insights and opportunities, must be used for Nigeria and Nigerians’’.
In apparent eaction to Osinbajo’s declaration of his Presidential bid, Tinubu, popular, Jagaban, who sees himself as the godfather of south west politics and a frontline APC Presidential Aspirants, appears to be upbeat that he had met with the AP governors at the Kebbi state Governor’s lodge at, Asokoro, Abuja, the FCT. 17 state governors believed to be close allies of the former Lagos state governor were said to have attended the meeting on Monday, April 11, at the Kebbi state governor’s lodge in Abuja.
In anger he had told the governors, ‘’ I don’t have any son who has grown old enough to make such declaration’’, an indication that he is seriously upbeat. Aware that the battle line has been drawn between him and osinbajo, may have informed why he and his foot soldiers have stepped up their nationwide Campaign to win support ahead of the party primaries. He may be counting on the 17 governors who had honoured his invitation for a meeting last Monday to work on the party delegates in order to have a block vote.
The Nigerian Vice President,who has the backing of several interest Groups, across the country, may have known that the game is up that he had to hosted the APC Senate Caucus to an iftar dinner at the Aguda House within the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, April, 12, 2022, . He was said to have taken advantage of the evening meal which Muslims end their daily Ramadam Fast at sunset ‘’to solicit the support of the APC Senators for his Presidential Bid’’. Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President, who led the Lawmakers to the Aguda House, for the Iftar dinner, with the Vice President, may have played smart when he was aked about his response to the Vice President requests for their support. ‘’We wish the Vice Presiden luck in this endeavor to run for the Presidency of Federal Republic of Nigeria’’, he had said. He had said that that their’’ Conversation with the Vic President was Cordial’’.
Political analysts fear that going by Tinubu’s response to Osinbajo, a former Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General of Lagos state, during his tenure as the governor of Lagos state, and Nigeria Vice President’s,declaration of his Presidential shows that the APC primaries may turn out to be dirty. This may have informed why Osinbajo have relocated from Lagos to his state Ogun.
Many see Osinbajo’s Presidential Bid as going to play a spoiler’s role to the APC National Leader at the party primaries .This may have informed why Babajide Sanwo- Olu, governor of Lagos state and Tinubu political ally is working on the APC governors to mobilise support for the Jagaban and Multi-billionaire APC, APC , Presidential Aspirant. His recent visist to Zamfara, Niger, Ibrahim Babangida, a retired and a former Nigerian military President and Kaduna, where he made N50 million each at different times to Bandits Group victims, speaks volume.
Going by his style of politics, may believe that the former Lagos state governor has the mindset that his money would peak for him to win the APC , primaries and subsequently go ahead to win the 2023 general elections to be Nigeria next President after the expiration of Buhari’s tenure on My 29, 2023.
Nigerians are watching to see how the APC primaries will end. There is no gain saying the fact that whoever wins the support of the Nigerian President, who commands large following in the north west and north east geo-political regions,, among the APC, aspirants that would win the party ticket to contest the 2023, general elections.
The Nigerian President, who is at the last lap of his Administration may have seen the APC , primaries , may polarize the party, that he has at different meetings told the governors elected on the ticket of APC, and the party founding fathers to agree on a consensus Candidate. At present Tinubu, Osinbajo, Umahi, Okorocha, Kanu, Chris Ngige, a former governor of Anambra state and minister of Labour and Employment and Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, have shown their interest the party Presidential primaries.
Going by the way in which the retired Army had worked for the emergence of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor of Nasarawa state may determine who becomes the APC Presidential Cadidate for the 2023 , general elections.
Recall that he had requested George Akume, a former governor of the north central state of Benue, and now minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Tanko Al-Makura, Sani Musa, Saliu Mustapha, Mohammed Etsu and Senator Aziz Yari, a former governor of Zamfara state, described as a haven for Badits terrorising north west geopolitical region to withdraw from the race to pave way for Adamu, his Candidate, who had won the APC, primaries.
He has advised the party National Working Committee, NWC, ‘’to ensure that the primaries are not influenced by highest bidders going into the 2023 general elections’’. He may have alluded to Tinubu, who has the money to buy over the party delegates during the primaries to emerge victorious which may not be to the advantage of the party.
This where the Lagos Jagaban may have to do a rethink about his hostile attitude towards Osinbajo’s Presidential bid. There are too many unseen hands and power brokers in the APC, behind him.
