2023: Tinubu Deserves ‘Right Of First Refusal’, Faleke, Support Group Tell APC

Thousands of supporters of the national leader of All Progressives Congress APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have told the national leadership of the party and other critical stakeholders that the former Lagos governor ought to be given the right of first refusal as the ruling party shops for its presidential candidate in the lead up to the 2023 general election.

They also called on him to listen to their pleas and publicly declare his interest in running for the presidency in 2023.

The supporters made their demands known on Saturday in Abuja at an event organized by the Tinubu Support Group TSG and tagged, “Unveiling of Asiwaju’s Legacies and Inauguration of States’ Steering Committees of Tinubu Support Group”.

The event attracted dignitaries from all states of the federation including Sen. Adamu Mikal and six former state Assembly members from Yobe state; members of the House of Representatives led by Hon. James Abiodun Faleke; Hon. Tunji Bello from Lagos State, Alhaji Sanusi Gamji from Kogi; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Mr Babachir David Lawal, Senators Solomon Olamilekan, Opeyemi Bamidele, Ganiyu Solomon, Ibrahim Gobir, state assembly lawmakers from Kano and a host of others.

Speaking at the event, Hon Faleke said; “it is not often that history nurtures a particular person to fit into the needs of a particular time. Our party is therefore lucky that it does not need to go on a wild goose chase for the man to fly our party’s flag in these challenging times; a time when the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must go to the person who can continue to end banditry, to crush kidnappers and engage separatists so that our people can live in peace and prosperity. This is a man who will use his financial wizardry to further the gains of economic transformation.

“To secure the votes of the majority in 2023, we must present a candidate who knows where the shoe pinches the average Nigerian, not just because he has been there, but because, as the governor of the most difficult, most complex state in Nigeria, he put smiles on the faces of the poor by convincing the rich to join the government to chase poverty from the streets.

“That man is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Asiwaju of Lagos, Lagos State. The Jagaban of Borgu, Niger State, The Eze-obaIu-dike ngu of Oko, Anambra State. He is already our national leader. By the practice and standards in other cimes, when the issue of raising a Presidential Candidate is on the burner, such a personality should be given the right of first refusal”.

Earlier, Director General of Tinubu Support Group TSG, Arc. Umar Ibrahim Mohammed said having reflected on Tinubu’s performances in different offices, they have decided to call on him to view for the presidency.

“In our search for credible leadership to consolidate and improve on the enormous gains of the Buhari administration in the next dispensation, we have painstakingly and consciously undertaken to observe, study and critically analyze the challenges confronting the nation as well as our immense resources, potentials and strength.

“We have also reflected deeply on the outstanding leadership qualities, personal attributes and antecedents of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a man with the attributes of hard work, extensive vision, rich experience and striking intelligence, networks of vital contacts, sense of equity, justice and fairness with high regard for the rule of law.

“We therefore call on Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to avail the nation of his enormous wealth of experience, outstanding and visionary leadership qualities, to contest the 2023 Presidential Election.

“Tinubu is a bridge builder across regional, ethnic and religious lines that is capable of uniting the Country We have identified him as an exceptional manager of resources and a seasoned administrator and we are convinced that the nation needs him in the next dispensation. We have no doubt that he has the capacity and the political will to institute a new concept of governance and a new agenda of sustainable development, to provide effective leadership, capable of providing solutions to the numerous challenges confronting the nation.

“We have identified Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a patriot in words, in action, and indeed, a leading light among the people, a detribalized strategic thinker, with national outlook and balanced judgment, an exceptional manager of resources, a quintessential and visionary leader, an accomplished politician and a seasoned administrator, a statesman in Spirit and in physique, whose strides in the nation’s political landscape remain outstanding, as the man the nation needs in the next dispensation”, Mohammed added.

Highlights of the event were goodwill messages from some APC chieftains as well as the inauguration of the State Steering Committees.