Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, says Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), met him over his presidential ambition.
In a chat with PUNCH, Yakasai said Tinubu visited his Abuja residence to solicit his support for his presidential ambition.
- Proscription of Bandits: FG has succumbed to blackmail – Gumi
- 2023: Wife of Katsina Deputy Governor appointed women leader of Tinubu campaign group
Although Tinubu has not publicly declared his intention to contest the presidential election, there have been strong indications that he is interested in the highest office in the land.
There are different groups campaigning for him while his posters and banners are across the country.
In his interview with PUNCH, Yakasai said he had earmarked two politicians to support for Presidency in 2023.
Asked whether he planned to join the ruling party after Tinubu’s visit, Yakassai said, “I don’t want to join any (political) party but I can support a candidate of my choice. I have said it way back in 1951 that I will not be a party member but I will support a candidate of my choice.”
On the APC leader’s visit, the elder statesman said, “He (Tinubu) just came to visit me but actually I have two of them (presidential aspirants) that I have earmarked right from the beginning and I made a vow that any one of them who came to ask for my support first is the person I would support. Tinubu is the first person.”
When asked whether Tinubu told him he would be contesting for President, Yakasai said, “He (Tinubu) did and he asked for my support.”
Yakasai, however, said he didn’t disclose to Tinubu, during the visit, that he would support his ambition.
He also said that interested aspirants must first scale the hurdles of primary elections in their various political parties “then we will begin to compare them.”
