Why Tinubu Should Not Succeed Buhari - Yahaya Bello

 

The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been told to go and rest and allow younger Nigerians lead the country in 2023.

 

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State said this why giving reason why the former Lagos State governor should not succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

 

Bello, whose campaign posters for the presidency have littered parts of the country, in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust, said the leader of the APC would be convinced to support a young aspirant to succeed Buhari.

 

Daily Trust reports that Tinubu, who played a key role in the formation of the ruling party and victory of President Buhari, is yet to declare for the presidency, but his body language shows he may throw his hat in the ring.

 

The quest by blocs to grab the soul of the ruling party ahead of the 2023 politicking has ignited internal crisis. The three main blocs battling to take over the party’s soul comprise governors, the presidency and Tinubu’s group. There are other smaller camps within the three main blocs.

 

“He has a right to contest, nobody is questioning that. I always urge everybody to respect him for the roles he has played in this country’s democracy. He is a man of integrity, to be candid,” the governor said.

 

Responding to a question on the possibility of Tinubu pulling out from the party if he is denied the presidential ticket of the APC, Bello said, “You don’t build a house and destroy it. I don’t think Tinubu would do that. I think he has grown past that. He is an elder statesman who will not say that the country should be destroyed in his lifetime, not even after his demise. So I don’t see him doing that. I don’t see that happening at all. I can speak for him, that at an appropriate time he will throw his weight behind a Nigerian youth to take over the leadership of this country while he would be behind the scene giving support as an elder statesman and one of the leaders of this party.”

 

On his 2023 ambition, he said he would give an affirmative answer at the appropriate time to those mounting pressure on him to contest for presidency.

  

When contacted, Tinubu’s media aide, Mr Tunde Rahman, declined comment on Governor Bello’s statement.

 

But Senator Rilwan Akanbi, who represented Oyo South in the Eighth Senate and a key advocate of the Tinubu 2023 presidency, said Governor Bello’s comment was his personal opinion and he is entitled to it.

 

Akanbi, who is the vice chairman of the South-West Agenda (SWAGA), a group formed by Tinubu’s loyalists to champion the 2023 aspiration of the former Lagos State governor, said Bello and Tinubu, like every other Nigerian, are entitled to the presidency as long as they meet the requirements.

 

He, however, said it was the turn of the South, specifically the South-West, to produce the next president.

 

He also said the issue of presidency was beyond producing a youth, but the person must have the experience and track record to lead the country.

 

“But some people believe in maturity, capacity, capability and experience. It depends on the school of thought you belong to. And whatever opportunity you have been given to perform, your track record is very important. It will show whether you can lead a country like Nigeria,” Akanbi said.

 

Also speaking, the president of the Yoruba Welfare Group (YWG), another Tinubu’s support group, Comrade Abdulhakeem Alawuje, said Nigeria required a leader with capacity and experience, and Asiwaju is the right person.

“The president will not be in every state, but if he is a man with a good team, his impact would be felt in every village. All a competent leader needs to do is make his social, political and economic policies known, compiled by his equally competent team members, hereby called formulators,” the group noted.