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Former Lagos governor declares for Nigeria presidency

Former Lagos State governor and a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Monday declared his intention to contest the office of the president in the 2023 election.

“I’ve informed the President of my ambition,” Tinubu told newsmen after meeting Buhari on Monday in Abuja. “It’s been my life-long ambition. There’s nowhere in the world where a kingmaker cannot himself be king.”

Speaking with newsmen after he emerged from a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Tinubu said he plans to actualise his ambition under the platform of the ruling APC.

He also shrugged the question of a potential race for the APC ticket between him and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, whose support groups have since begun mobilising for his candidacy.

Tinubu said that his ambition to be president of Nigeria had been life-long, noting that with what he did in Lagos in his time as governor, he has the capacity to lead Nigeria.

On Osinbajo’s potential ambition, the APC national leader maintained that he would not be drawn into any discussion on any individuals.

Asked why he would not remain a kingmaker rather than seeking to be the king, he said there is nothing that stops a kingmaker from becoming the king unless he has committed murder.

“I answer that with a categorical yes. I’ve informed the President of my intention but I have not informed Nigerians yet. I’m still consulting. And I have no problem consulting. And I’ve noticed that a parameter of limitation to the extent of how many people I will consult,” he said.

“You will soon hear. All you want to hear is the categorical declaration. You’ve gotten that truth from me that I have informed Mr President of my ambition,” he said.

His open declaration of his intention to succeed President Buhari confirmed what sources told BBC about Tinubu’s ambition.

BBC gathered last night that he had informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his aspiration to which the President reportedly asked him to go ahead.

This is coming as governors of the ruling party gathered last night for a crucial meeting over the proposed February national convention of the party. -BBC

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