The 2023 presidential project of former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, got a boost on Thursday with former and incumbent speakers of state houses of assemblies in the South-West endorsing him.
This is, however, coming amidst what his loyalists and supporters see as “mounting opposition” against him within the APC.
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The supporters, however, insist that no amount of opposition could stop him from succeeding President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
Daily Trust reports that Tinubu has not declared interest in the position as he has consistently said the time was not ripe for 2023 politicking.
But several groups have emerged drumming support for him, the latest being current and past speakers of states in the South-West geopolitical zone who met in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital to solicit support for him.
The meeting, it was learnt, was at the instance of the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, who reportedly introduced the Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) Foundation and Movement to the gathering.
He explained that the BAT Foundation was set up to break the shackles of poverty in the society and to create a coordinated humanitarian image for the National leader of APC.
Obasa said while Tinubu has not indicated interest in the presidency, there was the need to deliberate on “this all-important issue on behalf of Tinubu.”
BAT National Coordinator, Ambassador Aliyu Saulawa, said the BAT Movement has a mission to actualise power shift to the South-West and promised to work for Tinubu to clinch the coveted position.
The speakers at the end of the meeting unanimously resolved among others that “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, being a Yoruba man with the capacity, experience and means should be the candidate to be supported to emerge as the next president of Nigeria”.
Daily Trust reports that several support organisations have also intensified advocacy and mobilisation for Tinubu 2023 presidency.
Meanwhile, the Speaker, Kogi State House of Assembly, Prince Mathew Kolewole, yesterday urged legislators across the country to support Governor Yahaya Bello’s presidential ambition, come 2023.According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Kolawole stated this in Jos during a visit to the Speaker of the Plateau House of Assembly, Abok Ayuba and his colleagues to solicit for their support for Bello’s ambition.
He was accompanied on the visit by his Deputy, Ahmed Mohammed, and other Kogi lawmakers.
“Our mission in Plateau is to congratulate the Speaker, Plateau House of Assembly, Abok Ayuba on his election as the Chairman of North-Central zone of Speakers Conference of Nigeria.
“We are also here to brief him and canvass support for his Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, the Governor of Kogi State, who is the youngest governor in Nigeria to run for president come 2023,” he said.
In his remarks, Ayuba said that the Plateau lawmakers would support Bello if he set an example by granting Kogi State House of Assembly autonomy.
He said that autonomy was one of the key things that the Speakers Conference of Nigeria had been fighting for its implementation.
