Former Governor of Lagos State and Presidential aspirant of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday has said Nigeria has all that it takes to be great again and compete favourably with leading countries of the world with the right kind of leadership in place.
Tinubu stated this as he met with the Caucus of his ruling party in the Senate on Wednesday.
The meeting which was at the instance of the National leader of APC was in continuation of his wide consultation to become Nigeria’s next President in 2023.
The former lawmaker however said the task of making Nigeria great again can only be achieved if the people and their leaders truly embrace the unity of the country and rise above their parochial sentiments.
Tinubu said the search for the right kind of leadership that can truly transform Nigeria’s potential into economic prosperity for all was the reason he made himself available for the highest political office in the country.
Tinubu said he cannot do it all by himself and will require the backing of the lawmakers at the national convention scheduled for March 26 to secure the party’s Presidential ticket.
He therefore called on the APC Caucus in the Senate to consider his wealth of experience in politics and at the pinnacle of Nigeria’s corporate world as well as his numerous sacrifices including his incarceration in defence of democracy during the henious days of military regimes in the country to give him the chance to deliver the goods.
Calling on the the APC lawmakers to support what he described as his “life time ambition”, Tinubu told them not to overlook his selfless sacrifices that led to the formation of the ruling party and its eventual victory at the polls in 2015 that ended Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sixteen years reign.
Tinubu said all he wants to do is to step into Buhari’s shoes and never intends to step on his toes, stressing that he would need the support of the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan and others in the APC to actualize the ambition of taking over from Buhari.
In his response, Ahmad Lawan said the lawmakers will do all that it takes within the ambit of the law to ensure that APC retains power in 2023.
“Our party is back on track despite the temporarily confusion in our party, but we are back on track”.
“Our convention will hold and new set of leaders will emerge. We wish you well we wish you the best of, luck in the affair of fighting for APC to continue to be the ruling party , we are with you”, he said
Tinubu had in February informed the incumbent President Mohammadu Buhari about his intention to take over from him when his eight years tenure expires on May 29, 2023, making him the first within and outside his APC to make such declaration publicly to succeed Buhari.
