Tinubu warned against running for president in 2023 and advised to back Osinbajo instead

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) national leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has been warned against running for president in 2023 because he will suffer a humiliating defeat and would be better off supporting vice president Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

In 2014, the APC was created through a merger of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (Apga). Asiwaju Tinubu's ACN was the largest of the parties in the alliance and a deal was agreed between to field the then General Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate.

It is not clear if at the time a pact was entered into under which Asiwaju Tinubu would take over from President Buhari in 2023 but former senate president, Dr Iyorchia Ayu has warned the ex-Lagos State governor from contemplating it. According to Dr Ayu, Asiwaju Tinubu’s quest to take over from President Buhari will erode the political gains he made so far.

Urging Asiwaju Tinubu to support Professor Osinbajo to succeed President Buhari, Dr Ayu, who also served as a minister in the cabinet of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, expressed concern that Asiwaju Tinubu has aligned himself with the most backward forces in Nigeria’s political history. He warned that the political group which he has aligned himself with, will soon turn against him.

Dr Ayu said: “Bola Tinubu is my brother, an excellent man, politically clever and hardworking and he has been very successful in his private life. However, I think like I said in one of my earlier interviews, he has aligned himself with the most backward forces in Nigeria’s political history.

“Rather than liberal and progressive wing of the north, this right wing group he is working with will soon turn against him and destroy him. His ambition which is becoming blind will contribute to that self-destruction as he will lose most of what he has gained as a political leader.

“If he has my opinion, I will advise him to continue to play the role of a political leader but not aspiring to be a government leader. He should promote and support the candidature of Yemi Osinbajo, who is obviously an intelligent and competent person."