Senate president denies nursing 2023 presidential ambition

Senate President Ahmad Lawan has dismissed rumours making the round that he plans to run for president in 2023.

Mr Ola Awoniyi, the Special Adviser on Media to the senate president made this known in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

Awoniyi was reacting to reports by some newspapers that Lawan was nursing the ambition to contest for president in 2023.

He said: “It is easy to see that the reports emanated from the sort of practice that drags the noble profession of journalism to the gutters. It only dresses up the lazy fantasy of its unimaginative authors as a fact.

“The report apparently has its source in beer parlour gossips and should be treated with the contempt which it and those who concocted it deserve.

“It is true that the Senate President was involved in the consultations that President Muhammadu Buhari held prior to the last emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC).

“But there was nothing extra-ordinary in his involvement in such consultations, given his status as holder of one of the highest political offices in Nigeria and on the platform of the APC.

“Such is required of any concerned member of the party, it is, therefore, sheer mischief for anyone to read ulterior motives to the Senate President joining hands with the President and other leaders in resolving misunderstandings in their own party,” he said.

Awoniyi reiterated that the sole concern of the senate president was to uphold the virtues of the Ninth Assembly while pursuing the interest of Nigerians.

“We will like to stress that the Senate President’s preoccupation is advancing the agenda of the Ninth National Assembly to focus governance on the pursuit of the best interests of the Nigerian people and to support President Buhari in delivering his promises to Nigerians.

“The Senate President does not suffer such needless distractions as imputed by the false report under reference.

“He believes that it is premature for anybody to be talking now about 2023 when all hands should be on deck against the myriad of challenges bedevilling our nation at this period.

“We advise the idle pseudo-journalists to look for other engagements and stop bastardising this noble profession.” (NAN)

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