2023 Presidency: God will determine my next step, says Lawan

Senate President Ahmad Lawan has said God would determine the next step in his political career.

He said this while responding to his reported entry into the presidential race on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

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The nation’s number three citizen spoke while responding to questions from State House reporters after joining other residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on a Sallah homage to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Asked to speak on his speculated presidential ambition, he said: “I thought you were going to ask me about what we want to do in 2022. We passed the budget for 2022, a budget for consolidation of what we have been able to achieve in 2020, when we had an implementation of 100%.

“2022 has just finished, another 100% implementation of budget and we’re looking forward to ensure that the 2022 budget is also implemented by 100%.

“If we stabilize our economy, we stabilize our country, then people can contest, but for now everything is speculative and I believe that God, in His infinite mercy, will show us the way.”

The Yobe born politician, who said people would have a place to contest elections when the economy and country were stabilised, called on citizens to shun partisanship and work towards making the country better organised.

Lawan, who said the country would have been in a better condition by now but for two recessions and the Covid-19 pandemic, stated that: “Today, we are happy to say that we’re still making progress, but would have done far better if we hadn’t had the COVID interruption.

“So, I believe that as a nation, we are moving in the right direction and President Muhammadu Buhari is giving us the leadership that we need and all that we need to do is to continue to support our leaders, continue to support our government and it’s in the best interest of everyone.

“Let no politics, let no partisanship, let no sentiments derail any of our programmes and projects because you need to have a Nigeria first if you are running to take over government at whatever level. You need to have a country, you need to have a stable country, you need to have a peaceful country in first place and if you do that, you can contest, for example. But as individuals, we have a date with a history.

“How much do we give to our nation? How much do we sacrifice for the sake of others in our communities and in our country? That determines a lot how far we can go because if we decide to be selfish, then I’m sorry, we may not make that kind of progress that we believe can take us to the Eldorado.”