As 2023 draws nearer, political parties and leaders have begun permutations to the Nigeria’s seat of Power. Several rumours and predictions have filled up the political space.
While the two major parties in Nigeria have continuously kept their joker cards hidden away from each other, some governors these parties have begun to let cat of the bag.
For Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku eye on the presidential race is a sine qua non. Atiku Abubakar is one of the very few Nigerian politcians whose name has never been missing in every general election calendar in Nigeria. He started his political journey in 1999 after the return of Fourth Republic where he contested as the governor of Adamawa under the umbrella of PDP and won. But fate soon brought him to become Nigeria’s number two citizen after Olusegun Obasanjo emerged the winner of the 1999 presidential election.
Another rumoured candidate for 2023 in the ruling All Progressives Congress is the ex Lagos governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who contested under Alliance for Democracy and Action Congress in 1999 and 2003 respectively. On both occasions, he won and served as two-term governor of Lagos State. He also came close to being Vice President to President Muhammadu Buhari but the sensitive issue of a muslim-muslim ticket made him succumb to pressure within and outside his party to jettison the idea. This later produced Professor Yemi Osibanjo as the Vice President to President Muhammadu Buhari, a seat he holds till date.
Although Jagaban Borgu himself is yet to publicly declare his intention to run for the job of number one citizen but there are indicators that he is definitely interested in the race.
Relating news from BBC Hausa this morning, ace journalist Babajide Kolade-Otitoju revealed some APC governors want the party to make ex President Goodluck Jonathan the party’s flagbearer. And this seemed to have shocked the multi-award winning journalist considering the circumstances that led to President Jonathan’s being voted out of Aso Rock.
Babajide’s disposition to this news is understandable as many could recall that President Goodluck contested under PDP in 2011 and 2015 presidential election. So how come some APC governors are now luring him to be the party’s flagbearer in 2023? Is there any ulterior motive behind this? Bearing in mind that GEJ can only spend a single term of four years should he contest under APC and win in 2023? Where does power go to(South or North?) when his tenure expires in 2027?
His words read: “BBC Hausa Service is reporting that some APC governors want the party to make GEJ the party’s flagbearer in the 2023 presidential election. Really!”
