Why Tinubu Won’t Back Out Of 2023 Presidential Race – Group

The South West Agenda for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu 2023 (SWAGA), a political group rallying support for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s presidential ambition on Monday said it is confident that the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) will accept its entreaties to contest in the 2023 presidential election.

Senator Dayo Adeyeye, coordinator and chairman of the group said even though Tinubu has not formally informed them of his desire to contest, they are confident that he will not reject the offer when the time comes.

Describing Tinubu as a highly experienced leader with the required political tact to make Nigeria work, Adeyeye said members of the group who are mainly former and serving federal lawmakers and grassroots politician will not be wasting their time if they know Tinubu will not be.

“Honestly, I do not have any assurance from Asiwaju Tinubu that he is contesting but I can tell you that he will contest. He will not back out from the presidential race. He cannot back out because there are forces in politics that will not make it possible for him to back out”.

“I am telling you that even though Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has not given us any assurance but you can also be reasonably sure that some of us in SWAGA with our little experience will not be wasting our time if we don’t think that he will come out and do it. I am telling you that by the grace of God he will come out and contest for the presidency. I don’t have assurance from him but we know our efforts cannot be in vain”.

On the statement by Governor Atiku Bagudu, chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) that the APC presidential ticket is open to all eligible members, Adeyeye said they are in support of the statement because no member should be barred from contesting.

He however said that it is the belief of majority of APC members that power should rotate to the South in 2023 after President Muhammadu Buhari muts have completed his two terms of eight years.

“Absolutely I have nothing against the idea of throwing the presidential ticket open. Even if a party make pronouncement today that the presidency is zoned to a particular place, I can assure you that people from other areas will still come out. But it is in the mind of the people to say that we have zoned the ticket to a particular place. So, when you come to the field, they will defeat you because you may not get the necessary votes”.

“But as long as the constitution of Nigeria says you must not discriminate against anybody, so a political party can have an internal arrangement to say we are zoning a particular position to a particular place. Some other people may disagree and they have a right to. So, you leave and go to the field. Since the majority believes in the zoning arrangement, you will have your way. That is the way it works in politics”.

“In 2007, it wasn’t only Umaru Musa Yar’Adua that came out, some people came out in the South too. They might be minor candidates but they still came out. That is the way it normally works. Are you going to bar Ayade as a bonafide citizen of Nigeria from contesting if he says he wants to contest? The answer is no”.

“Yahaya Bello said he is interested in the presidency even though he is from the North-Central, can you say he has no right? He has a right to contest as long as the constitution of Nigeria allows it. So, we have nothing against that statement by Bagudu that they want to throw the ticket open because that is what I expect anybody from that political position to say”.