Aso-Rock 2023: Tinubu finally declares for presidential race
By Dayo Badmus,
National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu has finally declared his 2023 presidential ambition.
The former Lagos Governor reportedly made the declaration in a recent visit to one of the founding members of the Arewa Consultative Forum and elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai in Abuja.
A leaked manifesto of Tinubu had surfaced online recently and several groups across the nation have been campaigning while posters and billboards of the APC leader are in major cities in Lagos State and across the country.
Confirming Tinubu’s 2023 ambition, the elder statesman, Yakasai revealed to Saturday PUNCH that the ex-governor of Lagos was at his Abuja residence to solicit his support for the next general elections.
Tinubu had on Wednesday visited the elder statesman at his Abuja residence.
Speaking 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 anyone of them who came to ask for my support first is the person I would support. Tinubu is the first person.”
96-year-old Yakasai added, “He (Tinubu) said he would be contesting for President in 2023 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.”
When 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
