Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, has disclosed that he and other APC presidential hopefuls had asked President Muhammadu Buhari to nominate an anointed candidate for the 2023 presidential election but were astonished when he did not.
Bola Tinubu, the ruling party’s candidate, overcame his closest rivals – former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi and Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to win the ticket.
There were rumours before the primary that the President would select his successor after meeting with the Progressive Governors Forum, which he pleaded with to let him name his favoured candidate.
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And in a letter to President Buhari on Saturday, the former Lagos State Governor thanked President Buhari for maintaining a neutral stance and allowing all the aspirants battle it out at the primary.
‘Your Excellency, one must admire the sense of purpose, composure, and maturity you demonstrated in the weeks and months preceding the primary elections of our great party. As aspirants and party leaders, we all pleaded with you to “choose” your successor,’ part of his letter read.
‘Naturally, this is expected especially in African democracy. Up until the 6th of June, 2022, the day of the APC Presidential primaries, the whole of Nigeria, including myself, waiting for you to announce your preferred candidate. All of us thought and believed this was a very simple matter,’ he added.
‘However, it was only as the primary went into the night and as the candidates walked up to the podium and spoke that I fully and truly appreciated your position and stance to be neutral and non-aligned to any of us.
‘As the hours rolled by that evening, it became clear to me that all of us were your preferred candidates. As you captured it aptly in your letter to me, the ‘spirit’ of 2013 and 2014 when we created and built APC was there for all to see.’
