2023 Presidency: Tinubu, Umahi, no threat to Vice President ― OPS for Osinbajo

A group backing Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo for the All Progressives Congress presidential ticket has said declarations by former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the race would not undermine the speculated ambition of the Vice President.

Tinubu formally declared his interest on Monday after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi made a similar pronouncement on Tuesday after a closed-door meeting with President Buhari.

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo is yet to make a formal pronouncement but speculation is rife that he had since broached his ambition with his boss last December.

In a statement issued at The Progressive Project (TPP) office in Wuse, Abuja on Monday, spokesman of the Organized Private Sector for Osinbajo group, Abdulrahman Farouk declared that rather than mere sentiments, Nigerians must carefully weigh the past and current potentials of various candidates towards using their voter’s card responsibly in the 2023 election.

He said: “Getting Nigeria’s economy to grow faster than the population is going to take a lot of consistent planning, discipline and integrity, as well as great consistency in implementation but with his sharp focus, Professor Yemi Osinbajo is expected to do well.”

According to Alhaji Farouk, economic reforms and fair incentives needed to generate rapid economic multiplier effects that can accelerate employment generation, increased export earnings and other economic dividends for Nigeria appear better assured when someone like Professor Yemi Osinbajo is in power.

“The idealistic and very patriotic pursuit of various economic policies led by Osinbajo speak volumes about future potentials for people-focused policies; under his supervision, Nigeria’s social investment programmes have been ranked internationally but much more good news should unfold when he is fully in the saddle by 2023.”
In a similar development another group, the Progressive Consolidation Group (PCG) has said no declaration by any number of aspirants can douse the patriotic passion associated with those championing the cause of an Osinbajo presidency in 2023.

Chairman of PCG, Dr Aliyu Kurfi, submitted that plurality of candidates and political parties are necessary for a robust democracy and a rich array of strong contenders will only deepen the legitimacy of Osinbajo’s ultimate victory.

“As genuine democrats who believe in the Progressive ideals that Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo stands for, we welcome others into the race because we strongly believe that a plurality of candidates and political parties only enhances the robustness of our democracy.

“As I once stated, every well-informed Nigerian knows that PCG is the very first 2023 support group to be formally recognised by our progressive party, APC, and we have never sought to prevent or discourage others from following in our footsteps because Vice-President Osinbajo will not subscribe to dirty political games that some typically desperate politicians play.

“We are mobilising for Prof Yemi Osinbajo, a man who believes in the rule of law, a man who is a democrat and a great progressive too; nothing in his antecedents ever speaks of anti-democratic standards.

“Therefore, we do not only welcome the declaration by an aspirant; in fact, we anticipate having half a dozen more, so that Osinbajo would emerge from a very rich array of choices offered to the nation by the APC.

“The nature of the political competition that we envisage shall be one characterised by politics without bitterness; to this end, all members of pro-Osinbajo groups have been instructed to address other aspirants with courtesy and avoid getting drawn into the usual mudslinging that characterised Nigerian politics.

“As to the chances of success, we are very confident that Osinbajo will enter and win the race by virtue of all his good qualities and citizens’ expectations to see him build on the foundation laid by President Muhammadu Buhari,” Dr. Kurfi stated.

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