Lawan denies 2023 presidency ambition

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has refuted media reports that he has begun underground moves to run for President in 2023.

Lawan said it is premature for anybody to be talking now about 2023 at a time the country is facing myriad of challenges that require collective efforts to tackle.

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The Senate President, in a statement by his media aide, Ola Awoniyi, said his preoccupation was to advance the agenda of the Ninth National Assembly to focus governance on the pursuit of the best interests of the Nigerian people.

He said the report “apparently has its source in beer parlour gossips and should be treated with the contempt which it and those who concocted it deserves.”

The statement said, “It is true that the Senate President was involved in the consultations that President Muhammadu Buhari held prior to the last emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC).

“But there was nothing extra-ordinary in his involvement in such consultations, given his status as holder of one of the highest political offices in Nigeria and on the platform of the APC. Such is required of any concerned member of the party.

“It is, therefore, sheer mischief for anyone to read ulterior motives to the Senate President joining hands with the President and other leaders in resolving misunderstanding in their own party.”