Tinubu Declares For 2023 Presidency

The national leader of the All Progressive Congress APC, Bola Tinubu on Monday formally declared his intention to contest the 2023 Presidential election under the platform of the APC.

Tinubu made declarations when he visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja

Tinubu who was fielding questions from State House Journalists, who enquirer if he had made his intentions known to the President, declared

“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 not set a parameter of limitation to the extent of how many people I will 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, and you don’t expect more answers than that.

Tinubu revealed that ruling Nigeria as President remains “ a lifelong ambition”

It was however not clear if the President had given h8m the nod to contest.

Recall that the President had during his last nationwide interview, said he was holding his choice close to his chest, because, according to him” they may kill him if I choose my successor public”

But Tinubu revealed that the President is running a democratic system and therefore, must imbibe democratic values.

“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 virtues of democracy. That’s it.”

Reminded about several groups drumming support for Osinbajo and others, Tinubu said he does not want to be drawn into commenting on other people, including the several support groups, drumming up support for his ambition, that of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other candidates.

He however stated that he has the “ confidence, the vision, the capacity to rule, build on the foundation of Mr. President, and turn Nigeria better.

“ I don’t want to discuss individuals now. I must discuss myself.

“I’ve have done all 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 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.

On his manifesto for Nigeria, the APC leader said Nigerians should wait as he was still consulting and could not release his manifesto yet

“You want my manifesto now? Not yet. Not yet.

Speaking on the direct primaries and the convention, Tinubu called for a review of the position of the National Assembly and that of the President

“Whatever they come up with electoral amendment is what we must comply with. There is no unlimited elasticity in what we face, because we have to plan and plan well, and be able to manage the time effectively. The great roadmap to success is the ability of a leader to do what he must do at the right time that it should be done. So that to me, the electoral amendment point we will still look at that collectively. And it is our country. It’s our democracy. We had adopted it and we will push it rigorously.

“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 perception.

Convention, it is certain that we are going to get it.

On when it will be appropriate for the convention to hold, Tinubu said the onus lies with the President and the party leaders to decide.

“I’m not a spokesperson for the party. And the President is the leader of the party. So, expect convention, maybe if that’s added to your anxiety, or the other party’s anxiety is good for us. We get it and we’ll get it done properly.