Supporters of former Lagos State Governor and 2023 Presidential aspirant, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have revealed that the February 26 date picked for the All Progressives Congress convention was chosen upon Tinubu’s intervention.
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The loyalists, under the aegis of Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) Vanguard, at a press conference in Abuja during the weekend, explained that the convention date, which had been dragging for so long, was resolved after Tinubu’s intervention.
The convener of BAT Vanguard, Engr. Sola Olofin, stated this while fielding questions from journalists on what Tinubu had been doing to ensure that the APC did not disintegrate ahead of primary elections within the party and 2023 general polls.
He said, “He [Tinubu] has been making frantic efforts to ensure there is no rancour in the party, being the leader of the APC. So far, he has been able to organise peaceful meetings with the necessary arms of the party whom I perceive are in an amicable solution towards ensuring that the convention would hold peacefully come February 26.
“I will like to state here that with the information I’m privy to, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been able to meet Mr President, and able to talk to him, to call the party in order to have a peaceful convention. As you all know, the convention has been dragging for so long.
“We’ve been expecting it to take place, but the committee has not been able to give us a date. And recently, after he went to the Presidency, you can see that within a short time, everything died down and the caretaker committee was able to announce a date for the convention.”
Olofin added, “I want to believe that this is one of his efforts in ensuring that the party holds a smooth convention.”
Speaking further, Olofin stressed that Tinubu’s age would help Nigeria and Nigerians on how to handle important national issues, considering the wealth of experience he had accumulated over the years.
He stated, “Also, based on the constitution, it makes provision for age brackets and he’s still within the age limit to contest. If you look critically at some Western countries, particularly America, their President is of age, and also some of the African countries. They have Presidents that are of age, and I believe that the older you are, the more experience you have to handle the national issue, and also ensure that rule of law is well taken care of.”
On his part, Co-convener of BAT Vanguard, Barr. Sola Gabriel, disclosed that their principal was in full support of recent moves of the party to review its constitution.
He noted, “As you can see, the last constitution amendment took place in 2014. It has been overtaken by time. New things need to be accommodated into it. That’s why our constitution needs to be reviewed to accommodate new happenings to make the party move forward.”
