FORMER Lagos State Government Bola Tinubu has said that he will not turn down calls by supporters to contest the 2023 presidential election.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain made this known to newsmen shortly after meeting with the leaders of the Northern Alliance Committee in Abuja on Tuesday.
“I will still effectively and widely consult, particularly brainstorm with my friends and find a date to come out openly to tell Nigerians,” Tinubu added.
“But the president is still in office. I don’t want to distract him from all the challenges that he might face today. So, don’t muddle the political water. Consult, make our programme known to the people later.”
Tinubu’s statements have ended months of social media speculations that the politician desires the nation’s higher political office in 2023.
In October, the Southwest Agenda 2023, known as SWAGA ‘23, was launched in Lagos to champion and actualise Tinubu’s presidency.
Speaking at the launch, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said Tinubu’s extraordinary qualities set him apart from his contemporaries in the Nigerian political scene.
Sanwo-Olu said SWAGA was a movement representing the philosophy Tinubu stood for, noting that the group’s agenda, which was for Tinubu to emerge as Nigeria’s president in 2023, would be “brought to a logical end.”
Social-political leaders from the South-West, including a former Minister of Works Adeseye Ogunlewe, had also described Tinubu as the appropriate person to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
Tinubu’s ambition has also received the support of a northern group, the Arewa Youth Alliance.
The group had, in a statement in October by its coordinator Bello Lawal, described Tinubu as the best presidential candidate in 2023.
He called on all political parties in the country to begin adopting him as the main candidate for Nigeria.
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