The Director-General, Voice of Nigeria, Mr Osita Okechukwu, has advised Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress to jettison his presidential ambition by backing a younger candidate from the South.
Okechukwu, a foundation member of the APC made this submission while entertaining questions from journalists at the 2021 Eke Day in Abuja on Sunday.
“If one is consulted by our national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on whether he should run or not for the exalted office of the President of Nigeria in 2023, my candid advice will be that he should use his abundant Almighty God’s endowment to unite the APC, and unite the South and by extension our beloved country, by backing a candidate from the southeast,” he said.
Okechukwu advised the APC leader to throw his weight behind a younger person from the South, especially the South-East geopolitical zone to emerge as the President in 2023.
Tinubu by so doing, Okechukwu said, would have united the south forever; as some northerners have complained that why they are reluctant to support southern candidates is because of lack of cohesion among the two major geopolitical zones in the south.
The VON boss posited that if Tinubu widens his search he will definitely find a credible candidate from the southeast who will easily defeat the presumed candidate of the PDP, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
According to him, by so doing he would have wittingly used one stone to kill two birds – unite the APC, and unite the South and by extension, the entire country.
He emphasised that it will be statesman-like for Asiwaju to be a Kingmaker than throwing his hat into the ring.
Asked why Tinubu should be restricted to only Kingmaker and not the King himself, Okechukwu argued that, “the scriptures said there is time for everything which happens on earth.
“I am one of those Buharists who have tremendous respect for Asiwaju for the critical supplement he added to Buhari’s 12 million Vote-Bank, which resulted in our 2015 presidential election victory.
It is not a mean feat when you consider that with Buhari’s Vote-Bank, we were unable to win in 2003, 2007, and 2011, until the merger of the legacy political parties, where Tinubu played major role.”
On whether there is an agreement between Tinubu and Buhari in 2015 to be his running mate in the presidential election, Okechukwu answered, “I don’t know of any agreement.”
C: Punch
