CONFIRMED: Tinubu contesting for president in 2023 – elder statesman

 

A founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai, has revealed that national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu was at his Abuja residence on Wednesday to solicit support for his (Tinubu’s) presidential ambition in the 2023 general elections.

Although Tinubu has yet to declare his intention to contest any office in 2023, there have been reports and veiled indications that he might be interested in the exalted seat.

Speaking to Saturday Punch, Yakasai divulged: “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 any one of them who came to ask for my support first is the person I would support. Tinubu is the first person.”

When asked whether Tinubu told him he would be contesting for President in 2021, Yakasai said, “He (Tinubu) did and he asked for my support.”

Furthermore, Yakasai said interested aspirants must first scale the hurdles of primary elections in their various political parties “then we will begin to compare them.”

The 2023 Nigerian general election will be held on 18 February to elect the President and Vice President.

President Muhammadu Buhari is in his second term in office, and cannot run for re-election.