2019 Presidency: Tinubu joins race
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Tinubu
It seems Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to join the Presidential race in 2019 if feelers coming in is anything to go by. Of late, Tinubu has been holding series of political meetings and consultations preparatory for his bid for the presidency in 2019.
A source close to the former Lagos State governor revealed that the Ashiwaju is presently gathering a formidable team and has developed an elaborate strategic plan preparatory for the race.
The source further revealed that that Tinubu has also abandoned his initial plan of joining forces with elements in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to put together a formidable mega party to take on the APC in 2019. He has thus resolved to remain in the APC and slug it out for the nation’s presidential seat in 2019.
It will be recalled that Tinubu played a leading role in putting together the APC in 2013, and nurtured it till it clinched the historic victory in the 2015 general elections.
It is speculated that Buhari’s often ill-health may rule him out of the Presidential race in 2019. That being so, the coast is thus clear for Tinubu and Atiku to slug it out for the coveted seat.
It is believed that in order to marshal formidable political weight that will be difficult to put down, Tinubu is currently making moves to reconcile with some South-west political heavy weights with whom he had fallen out with. These include Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose, former Ogun State governors Segun Osoba and Gbenga Daniel among others.
Tinubu is also believed to be consulting widely in the north so as to checkmate Atiku. Already he has penciled down three names as possible presidential running mates. These include Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, Senator Abu Ibrahim from President Buhari’s Katsina South Senatorial District, and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, long standing political associate. Sanusi is seen as Tinubu’s open sup to the business community, local and international given his background as a seasoned technocrat.
(THISDAY)
