The battle for the 2023 presidential race is beginning to gather momentum with some of the active players in the South West positioning themselves strategically and intensifying efforts to realise their ambition of succeeding President Muhammadu Buhari.
One of such politicians within the South West geo-political zone, whose presidential ambition is no longer a secret, is the National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The Point, however, learnt that Tinubu’s speculated presidential ambition may not sail through without any challenge by other interested persons within the South West nursing similar aspiration and eyeing the same positio.
Although, Tinubu, it was learnt, has been making serious efforts to sustain his 2023 presidential aspiration, feelers from the APC in the South West clearly indicate that he is likely to encounter stiff opposition from those that can be referred to as his “political godsons” or associates, who had at one time or the other been under his political tutelage.
Prominent among such “political godsons” or associates believed to also have been making quiet moves and preparing to join the 2023 presidential race from the South West include Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.
The immediate past governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, is another possible contender from the South West for the Presidency.
The Point gathered that while Fayemi hopes to leverage on his position as a former chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum to rally the other governors behind him, Amosun may be banking on his closeness to President Muhammadu Buhari to clinch the APC presidential ticket for the 2023 polls.
Fayemi and Amosun, it was learnt, are expected by some estranged associates of Tinubu to give the APC national leader a fierce run for his money in the South West, in his bid to secure the presidential ticket of the ruling party for the 2023 presidential election.
Party sources, however, said Amosun, after all, might not pose any challenge to Tinubu’s presidential ambition as the two of them maintain cordial relationship and ties, contrary to speculations of any fight between them.
Amosun’s presidential bid, it was gathered, would be strengthened if only he gets the support of those who have the ears of President Buhari.
Also from outside the ruling APC, Tinubu is expected to face stiffer opposition if he eventually emerges the presidential candidate of the ruling party in 2023.
One of those who have clearly indicated ambition to confront Tinubu is the former deputy national chairman of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olabode George.
In declaring his 2023 presidential ambition, George told Nigerians that he’s joining the race to contest against Tinubu and even defeat him at the poll.
The Point learnt that Tinubu’s camp is jolted by the fact that those poised to drag the ticket with the APC national leader in 2023 are those that can be referred to as his “political godsons” who had at one time or the other been under his political tutelage.
A chieftain of the APC in Lagos State, who pleaded not to be named, lamented the situation in a chat with The Point, saying, “Everybody knows that religion deprived him of the Presidency in 2015, but now it is baffling that people we all know are his own boys are now the ones trying to be an impediment to his emergence in 2023. I just hope this won’t result in a situation where the South West will lose out totally at the end of the day.”
He, however, assured that Tinubu was not leaving anything to chances regarding his 2023 presidential ambition, adding, “You’ll all be surprised how they (aspirants) would be worsted and disgraced when the chips are down, when Asiwaju’s formidable political machinery rev into action.”
Who from South-West takes reins of power in 2023?
Though President Muhammadu Buhari is just on the first leg of his final term of four years, the race towards picking his successor is already gathering momentum as it’s now in the front burner of political discourse across the country.
While some commentators believe that agitating about Buhari’s successor in 2023 is coming too early in the day, many analysts and watchers of political events are of the view that such an early clamour is not unusual, especially since the incumbent is serving his last term and is automatically out of the race.
Senior Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare, had also in his “State of the Nation Address,” which he delivered on the first Sunday of this year, stirred the hornet’s nest when he spoke about building a strong post-Buhari legacy facilitated by accurate succession.
According to him, “Therefore, even as we build institutions of democratic governance, a key responsibility that history has bestowed on Buhari at this turning point in our journey to nationhood is to institutionalise systems of accurate succession that will build and sustain the Nigeria we desire. This is a task that must be done.”
This statement was misconstrued by many who said that he wanted Buhari to pick his successor.
He, however, later explained, “My overriding concern in offering propositions was to forestall the emergence of a new iteration of recycled enemies, who will once again seek to lock us into a cycle of doom and gloom at the turn of a new decade. If we have been excellent at anything in Nigeria, it has been at creating a succession pipeline of the worst of us ruling over the best of us. On my part, I remain committed to facilitating, however God enables me, the emergence of the best, brightest, fittest and most competent Nigerians across every gamut of our national life. I am more interested in discussions on the way forward and will thus not address individual comments, particularly as they were in response to words I simply did not utter or insinuations that were the concoctions of jaundiced imaginations.”
Speaking with The Point, a senior member of the Campaign for Democracy in Ogun State, Comrade Sola Olawale, argued that the discourse about who succeeds Buhari should be of concern to all Nigerians.
He said it was not too early for qualified Nigerians to express their interest in the 2023 presidency.
“For whoever that is interested in ruling this country in 2023, coming out now to show his interest is not bad,” he said.
But the National Coordinator of Democracy Vanguard, Mr. Adeola Soetan, told The Point that the clamour over Buhari’s successor “is too hasty and very stupid.”
According to him, “Our concern now should be on governmental issues to ensure dividends of democracy, how to put pressure on elected government at Federal, state and local government levels, to fulfill their promises in this period of pervasive insecurity, mass poverty, hunger and unemployment in the country.
“Those who put 2023 on the front burner and those who are sponsoring them are political merchants, criminals against the people’s interests, who want to suffocate democracy and governance and are not interested in what becomes of the common man. Their selfish interest proves that politics is no more about service but profitable business for personal and group interests.
“We, the people, should not be distracted but must always set agenda by putting governance issues on the front burner. It is laughable that some people who may not live to see 2023 are not concerned about how to ensure good governance in 2020, but fixated on 2023.”
Another trend in the political circle is the assumption that the next President will come from the South- West.
Many analysts who are in this school of thought believe that the North should automatically back the South-West region come 2023, because of the role the region played in the election of the incumbent President, whose deputy, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, is also from the South-West geo – political zone.
The recent comment by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria leader, while speaking on the contentious issue of the South-West security outfit, codenamed Operation Amotekun, also lent credence to the belief in the political space that the region is in serious contention to produce the next president come 2023.
The MACBAN leader, while expressing his group’s opposition to Operation Amotekun, had threatened that the governors of the region should drop the security initiative or forget 2023 presidency.
He said the North would not back the South-West for the 2023 presidency, if it insisted on the formation of a regional security outfit.
The South-West, he threatened, would definitely lose political support from the North, “if it continues along this sectional trajectory.”
Also, politicians, especially members of the ruling All Progressives Congress from the region are reluctant about commenting on Operation Amotekun, which the North has opposed, in order not to lose the support of the Northern political oligarchy.
For instance, it took the National Leader of the APC and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, several days and an embarrassing pressure mounted on him to utter a tactical comment on the controversy surrounding the launch of Amotekun.
But the South-West is not taking with levity the agitation that the country’s president after Buhari will be a Yoruba man. Not a few politicians from the region are already oiling their individual political machines in readiness for the battle over the 2023 presidency.
The region and its leaders are already positioning themselves for the exalted office. Though only former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the PDP has openly declared interest in the presidential race, some names are on the lips of political watchers and analysts.
Among the names being touted from the ruling APC are: former two-term governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Tinubu; former governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and the incumbent Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Chief Bode George is the only name being mentioned from the main opposition party, the PDP.
Of all the names, only George has, through media interviews, said he is going to throw his hat into the ring. Tinubu in response to a question as to whether he will run only said 2023 is still far away.
What are the chances of these aspirants, if eventually they enter the race. What are their antecedents and how far can they go?
The Point put these questions to many political analysts and watchers of political events and development in the country and they were of the opinion that the names being mentioned are eminently qualified to occupy the coveted seat of Nigerian president. Such names that have lately become recurrent in political discourse across the country include the following:
We, the people, should not be distracted but must always set agenda by putting governance issues on the front burner. It is laughable that some people who may not live to see 2023 are not concerned about how to ensure good governance in 2020, but fixated on 2023
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu
Tinubu was born on March 29, 1952. He was elected senator for the Lagos West Senatorial District in 1993. He was one of the chieftains of the National Democratic Coalition that vehemently opposed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections by the military. Following the clampdown on pro-June 12 activists by the military, Tinubu fled abroad from where he and others continued the agitation for the de-annulment of the June 12 elections. After the return to democracy, he was elected governor of Lagos State, holding office from May 29, 1999 to May 29, 2007. He also holds both the chieftaincy titles of the Asiwaju of Lagos and the Jagaba of Borgu Kingdom in Nigeria, and he is regarded as the national leader of the APC.
He is the central force behind the alliance that led to the formation of the All Progressives Congress, a party that eventually defeated the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 presidential election.
Tinubu is believed to wield so much power in the ruling APC. Although loved by his people of the South- West, only time will tell regarding how other regions will receive his presidential aspiration.
Governor Kayode Fayemi
John Olukayode Fayemi was born on February 9, 1965 and is the current governor of Ekiti State. He’s a native of Isan-Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State. He was also part of NADECO members who fought for the de-annulment of the June 12 elections. He previously held the office of the governor of Ekiti State between 2010 and 2014.
He resigned as the Minister of Steel and Solid Minerals Development on May 30, 2018 to contest the governorship of Ekiti State for the second time, an election which was a battle between him and his political rival, Ayo Fayose.
Fayemi who is a former chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum, is very close to the incumbent President Buhari and the Northern power brokers.
Senator Ibikunle Amosun
Sixty-two-year-old Ibikunle Amosun was first elected Senator for the Ogun Central Senatorial District of Ogun State in April 2003.
In April 2007, he made an unsuccessful bid for the governorship of Ogun State. He ran for governor again in 2011, and this time was elected on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria. He ran for office for the second term under the APC in 2015 and was re-elected and sworn into office on May 29, 2015.
Amosun is a close ally of President Buhari, who sent him a personal letter congratulating him on his 62nd birthday.
He is currently serving as the Senator representing Ogun Central in the National Assembly.
Chief Bode George
Chief Ibiyinka Olabode George is the former deputy national chairman (south) of the PDP and he is the only aspirant from the main opposition party to have announced his interest in the presidential race through the media.
George, who was the Director-General of the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Campaign Organisation in 2006/2007, just came back from London, where he was said to have met with some prominent Nigerians to strategise on how to actualise his presidential ambition.
The Point gathered that a former President and former head of state had already endorsed the move to make him to succeed President Buhari in 2023.
Some members of Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, led by nonagenarian Reuben Fasoranti, are also believed to be backing George’s ambition.
His party, the PDP however, is not in control of Lagos State, where George hails from and the opposition party is also only governing one out of the six states in the South-West geo-political zone.
As it is, the last has yet to be heard about the impending race for the number one political seat in the country, as many more aspirants would surely throw their hats into the ring. The South-East geo-political zone has not backed down on its clamour to produce the next President to make up for all the years they had been denied the opportunity to rule the nation.
The South-West is not taking with levity the agitation that the country’s president after Buhari will be a Yoruba man. Not a few politicians from the region are already oiling their individual political machines in readiness for the battle over the 2023 presidency
