Will Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo still go ahead and fight for the APC presidential ticket with his political godfather and benefactor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu? That is the big question many political analysts are asking, as all eyes are right now on what Osinbajo will do in the next few days.
With Tinubu coming out to say he has told Buhari of his intention to run, the VP and his team have gone back to the drawing board to restrategise. City People has it on good authority that Osinbajo is going to run. His aides describe him as the most acceptable politician among those who are eyeing the job.
Amidst all the political permutations that seem to point at Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who’s from the same party and has been nursing the presidential ambition for as long as the eve of the 4th republic, over two decades ago, there are strong indications that the VP will run.
Though he has not come out to say so, there is a general belief that he will be contesting. So many things suggest that, revealed some political observers.
One, there are the comments of some key players in the North, calling on him to run, for having been loyal to their kinsman, President Muhammadu Buhari in the last 8 years. There are also a few Northern leaders who have commended him.
Two, is the fact that a lot of Osinbajo For 2023 Presidency groups have come up in the last one year and moves are being made by some key individuals in society to have him accept the offer.
City People can authoritatively reveal that over the last 12 months, a lot of pressure has been mounted on this Ikenne-born politician to run for President.
But the big moral issue is: how Osinbajo will come out to contest against his political godfather, Tinubu, the man who made him politically. Recall that it is Tinubu who dragged him into Politics in 1999 when Tinubu made him Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State.
Those rooting for Osinbajo argue that he has everything going for him. He is younger. He is in 60s. As a Prof. he is far educated than many other contestants. He doesn’t have the baggage others carry.
And two, the Northern Mafia prefers him because of his Gentility and Calmness.
Insiders insist that the North prefers Osinbajo because they feel he will listen to them when he becomes President and the fact that he can do their bidding. According to their plan, if Osinbajo agrees, he will run with a candidate who the Northern Mafia will put down
The presidency of Buhari in 2015, allegedly came with an understanding that the party national leader and key figure in the southwest, Bola Tinubu will assume power in 2023, but the political climate, especially for the North is so intense and sceptical about who receives the baton from Buhari and who will keep them within the power corridor for another 8 years, all things being equal.
Even as Professor Yemi Osinbajo, is yet to stand before a camera and make the following declaration: “I accept the call to run for the office of the Presidency.”, it is beginning to look like the Vice President may have no choice than to accept the challenge, following all the powerful forces behind the plot to field him as the All Progressive Congress, APC presidential candidate.
Should he accept and ultimately win the election, VP Osinbajo will be the 3rd Yoruba President, from the same state as all the Presidents that have governed Nigeria, Ogun State and will be the very first democratic vice president that would have served for 8 years and advance to the office of the President in the history of Nigeria.
According to reliable sources, who are very close to the Vice President, the coast is very clear for him to run despite the rough edges that the southerners are considering and the internal infractions that is rocking the party.
A very close aide of the Vice President was recently quoted, in an interview, that there is absolute nothing wrong of the Vp if he decides to throw his hat in the ring come 2023, to battle at the poll for presidency, “afterall, he is most fit for the office”, he had said. The gist is that, there are actually some Big forces behind Osinbajo’s presidential bid, and they currently play powerful roles in the current political undertakings. They are the ones who hold the party structure and they are the key people who are very close to Buhari, and who give Buhari advice on delicate matters. They are the key stakeholders at the Governor’s forum; they are the powerful religious leaders in the north who can mobilize people en masse. It is even hinted that some of them are governors from the powerful K-States of the north, whose votes usually serve as the game changers during the elections.
Being a gentleman, a southerner and a Pastor, the idea is to field him to serve the zoning structure and place a strong northerner by his side as a Vice President to secure their place at the centre. There are also forces in the south who prefer Osinbajo to run but have remained a silent faction that would not want to raise unnecessary noise before the much anticipated APC Convention.
Amidst all of these, support groups are still springing up, Whatsapp groups are launching every day with respect to the mobilization of supporters and foremen are already engaging the people to canvass for support. The Osinbajo Grassroots Organisation, OGO, has also not retreated in their campaign for the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, as the future of Nigeria. OGO’s National Convener, Foluso Ojo, insisted that the Vice President has at several instances displayed his competence and ability to govern Nigeria.
According to Ojo: “We have identified in the Vice President a leader of unimpeachable character; someone who can continue on the good works already started by President Muhammadu Buhari. “We do not want Nigerians to gamble with this very important decision to pay attention to only politicians, when as stakeholders, we as the youths of this country, can also identify a man with required competence, character and passion to move the nation forward.
“At different occasions, Prof Yemi Osinbajo has demonstrated that he possesses the unique competence, fairness, accommodation, tolerance and respect for the rule of law to carry everyone along as critical stakeholders in the Nigerian future. “So, we do not need him or anyone to tell us that Prof Osinbajo is a pathway to Nigeria’s future from 2023.”.
As of today, neither VP Osinbajo nor his media handlers has come to refute or disclaim Foluso Ojo’s fast growing movement. President Mohammadu Buhari is also caught between loyalties as there are indications that he will have a significant role to play in the emergence of the next president that will succeed him. Recall that popular cleric, Tunde Bakare, had advised President Muhammadu Buhari to pick his successor for the 2023 presidential election. Pastor Bakare advised the President to put in place a succession system, saying leaders in countries like China, Singapore and South Africa put in place such succession plans. Although sources from Aso Rock had dismissed the insinuation that the President will pick a successor, it was made clear that President Muhammadu will be interested in the process. He will ensure that there is a free, fair and credible election; that nobody will come to use money and resources to bamboozle his way into the leadership of the country.
Osinbajo’s style of operation, in the lens of Nigerian pundits, may resemble that of former President Goodluck Jonathan, but we can tell you for free that he’s a warrior. This is a man who walked out of a smokey, crashed helicopter without a wobble, without a limp, without a bruise, and without an excuse to stay off his duties as VP even for an hour. He emerged out of the propeller helicopter as if nothing was amiss, and today Nigerians earnestly seek his interest. When one considers the zoning system, Osinabjo qualifies on all fronts, he is a Christian from the South.
Before now, VP Osinbajo & Tinubu had met in Abuja. Worried at the spate of negative reports in the media than that all was not well between the duo, Prof. Osinbajo had sought for a meeting with his political godfather to dispel all sorts of rumours that he was set to battle Tinubu for the APC presidential ticket in the 2023 presidential race.
At that time, Asiwaju accepted to go to Abuja to meet with Osinbajo, out of courtesy.
When the Asiwaju Group, first received the request for Tinubu to meet with the VP, the initial response was that of Shock and Surprise, revealed an insider. “Asiwaju wondered what the meeting was all about since he had not told anyone he was running for the Presidency.
But so that it won’t look as if he does not respect constituted authority, he decided to fly to Abuja to meet with the No 2 man.
At the meeting, Osinbajo was reported to have thanked Asiwaju immensely for making himself available for the meeting.
Whilst he pledged his continued loyalty to Tinubu, he seized the opportunity of the meeting to douse any rumour that he had issues with him. He was said to have mentioned the fact that despite the fact that he had been under pressure from well-meaning Nigerians to join the race for the Presidency, he had not made up his mind, whether to accept the offer or not. He was said to have quickly added that there was no way he would take a critical decision about such a major issue without discussing it with him and his spiritual father, Pastor E. A. Adeboye.
He explained that all the negative reports that are in the media were the handiwork of mischief-makers.
Asiwaju, on his part, thanked the V.P. for his show of respect and Camataderie and explained that as he has revealed over and over again, he has also not made up his mind whether he would run or not, despite the fact that he is under intense pressure to run for the presidency.
He also pointed out that whether he decides to run or not, his decision should not stop other interested aspirants from coming out.
Tinubu made it point-blank at the meeting that he is not stopping anybody who is interested in coming out to run. That same afternoon, the Speaker of the House of Reps, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, former EFCC boss and former Presidential Candidate, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Eruwa visited Tinubu at the Lagos House in Abuja.
City People gathered that the concern of the APC Leadership is how to save Osinbajo from clashing with Tinubu over the APC Presidential ticket.
While the Vice President’s boys have gone to town with The Osinbajo Grassroots Organization (OGO), Asiwaju’s camp had launched The South West Agenda (SWAGA) across all the states in the South.
