National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has the qualifications and competence to be the president of Nigeria if he chooses to contest the 2023 election, a prominent politician in the South-West, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, has said.
Olusi, who is chairman of the Council of Elders of the APC in Lagos, also said a number of delegations had visited him to prevail on Tinubu to contest in the 2023 presidential elections.
He, however, said he had not discussed the issue with him and that, the APC leader must embark on wide consultation before declaring for the presidency.
Olusi, who is a close political ally of Tinubu and also chairman of the Governors Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision making organ in the state APC, spoke with Daily Trust in an exclusive interview.
He also stressed that the crises in APC have been resolved with the dissolution of the National Working Committee (NWC) and constitution of the caretaker committee led by the Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni.
The recent developments in the party, he observed, were not unusual in a political party with diverse interests and aspirations, restating that the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari had doused the tension.
Daily Trust reports that Tinubu recently made clarification on his highly speculated ambition, saying he had not decided yet and the time was not ripe for such a declaration.
“Therefore I want to say emphatically that as far as I am concerned, Asiwaju as a person is entitled to aspire to become the president of Nigeria.
“So if you look at Asiwaju, having been a governor, having been a senator, the next possible position that you can move to, looking at the constitution of the country is either the vice president or the president.
“I want to submit that he is qualified.
“I want to submit that a number of associations have been calling on him to contest for the presidency of this country and I want to also say that people have led delegations to me that I should talk to him to contest but I have not discussed the issue with him.
“However, I want to say that I know many people are willing and waiting for him to personally declare his intention.
“By this submission, you would agree that Asiwaju is qualified to aspire to be president of this country, particularly looking at his performance as governor of Lagos State for eight years and also his contributions as a leader of APC to the founding of the party.
“But if he so desires and decides (to contest), he must seek the support of leaders and members of the party and even the entire people of Nigeria.
“So he requires more time to be able to do that,” Prince Olusi said.
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