Displaying items by tag: kingmaker

The former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, says that President Muhammadu Buhari did not ask him to discard his political ambition.

He said this after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, on Monday.

The former Lagos State governor told reporters that becoming Nigeria’s president is his lifelong ambition.

The National leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, says his visit to the Presidential Villa on Monday offered him the opportunity to formally inform President Muhammadu Buhari of his Presidential ambition in 2023.

When asked how the President responded to his declaration, Tinubu said, “He is a democrat. He didn’t ask me to stop, he didn’t ask me not to attempt and pursue my ambition. It is a lifelong ambition. You are running a democratic dispensation and you must adopt the principles and values and virtues of democracy.”

Tinubu said he’s qualified to make Nigeria better.

“I don’t want to discuss individuals now, I must discuss myself. I have the confidence, vision and capacity to build on the foundation of the President and turn Nigeria better. I have done that with commitment and yielding zeal in Lagos State.

“You have seen that experience and capacity to turn things around and that is also what we are doing. The confusion and drift of the past in PDP are being corrected as we are today. Going back to the data of how many barrels of oil we were producing when we took over and what we have today.

“You now see excellent infrastructure. Let us think back and be intellectually inquisitive as to the past and the present as well as what the future holds for Nigeria,” he added.

The former Lagos governor dodged the question of a potential race for the APC ticket between him and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, whose support groups have been mobilising for his candidacy.

The former governor of Lagos state, says there is no rule preventing a kingmaker from becoming king.

Tinubu played a role in the merger of different parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the subsequent emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as the party’s candidate in 2015, thus earning him the moniker.

Fielding questions from reporters after meeting with Buhari at the presidential villa, Tinubu said he would pursue his ambition without the title of “kingmaker”.

“About the cap of kingmaker. I have never seen the cap of a kingmaker before,” he said.

“That is the truth and I have never seen where it is written in the rule book anywhere in any country that a kingmaker cannot be a king – unless you commit murder.

“So, whatever is your attribute [of me] is your own opinion. Me, I want to pursue my ambition without the title of a kingmaker. You can write your literature and story based on your own perception.”