*His contesting a ‘done deal’ – Jibrin
*Muslim-Muslim ticket will be of no issue – Oladele
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
The Secretary General, South West Agenda for Asiwaju 2023 and former Member House of Representatives, Hon. Bosun Oladele, has said that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s promise that “I will not let you down” is confirmation that he will run.
Bosun spoke Friday in an exclusive interview with The DEFENDER, saying, “We told the traditional rulers to help us prevail on Asiwaju Tinubu to accept our call on him to contest and also talk to their other sons and daughters, who have grouses with him, to forget the past and support him for the 2023 Presidency.
“Even the Asiwaju himself has indicated his confirmation that he will contest when he told us to us, ‘I will not let you down’,” Bosun Oladele said.
Bosun also talked about the Muslim-Muslim ticket controversy saying it will be of no issue in the Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s case as, he said, Nigeria’s problem is not religion but about how to sustaining good and quality leadership, who can keep the country going.
In the same vein, Director General, Tinubu Support Groups Management Council and former Member, House of Representatives, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, has confirmed that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former Governor of Lagos State and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), will indeed be contesting in the forthcoming 2023 presidential election.
Jubrin, speaking to Channels Television, it is sometimes funny for some people to ask if Tinubu will be contesting or not as, according to the Kano-born politician, the only thing that is left now for the APC chieftain is formal declaration.
“Sometimes I find it a bit funny when I hear people saying is he contesting or not. The only thing that is left is just the formality of organising an event where he is going to express his aspiration, just to notify the public that, yes, I am going to contest. But the issue of Bola Tinubu contesting is a done deal. He is going to contest the election; he’s going to be on the ballot paper,” Jibrin said in an exclusive interview with Channels Television on Saturday.
“What I keep telling people is that, it is one thing to be qualified to be President, it is one thing to be able to make a competent President, and it is another thing to be able to win a presidential election. They are two different things. You have so many people within the APC that are competent and qualified to become President. But it is completely different”.
According to Jibrin, Tinubu has all it takes to defeat any other candidate in the election.
“For me, the person who has an edge over all of them, that we can hand over the ticket to and perhaps go back home and sleep, is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,” he said.
“I can assure that if you give people a choice of someone who will come and improve on what we already have on ground and revamp the economy and improve every part of the country – people just want to see progress, to see development. For me, it doesn’t matter if you bring a Christian-Christian President or a Muslim-Muslim president.”
Speculations about Tinubu’s ambition to run in the 2023 election is one that has been highly debated over the past year.
While he has yet to officially declare his intentions, several political groups have drummed support for him with billboards and posters in some parts of the country, especially major cities – Lagos and Abuja.
In December 2021, the APC Chieftain had said he will consult widely before making a decision on whether to run for the Presidency or not.
“I am not going to turn them down,” he said of voices that have clamoured for his candidacy. “But I will still effectively and widely consult, particularly brainstorm with my friends and find a date to come out openly and tell Nigerians”.
