All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and presidential aspirant, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, tacitly denied Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as his political godson on a day he met with governors on the ruling party’s platform to win them over for his aspiration.
Osinbajo had met with the governors earlier on Sunday night.
After Tinubu’s meeting with them a reporter asked him: “Sir, your godson, Prof. Yomi Osinbajo, has declared his ambition to run for the Presidency in 2023. Can we have your reaction, please?”
His terse reply: “I don’t have any son grown up enough to make such declaration.”
But he was more forthcoming on his meeting with the governors.
“My mission here is to seek collaboraation, support and encouragement of my party, the APC, for my ambition to become the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as replacement for President Muhammadu Buhari after his tenure.”
Recall that earlier in the day, Osinbajo in a televised broadcast sought the support of Nigerians for his presidential aspiration.
On social media, a number of persons had mocked that as the world commemorates the week in which Jesus Christ was betrayal by one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Tinube was being betrayed by one of his close followers, Osinbajo.
The former university teacher was brought to political limelight when Tinubu as givernor of Lagos in 1999 named him State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. He served in that position for eight years, acting as one of the brains behind Tinubu’s success in Lagos.
Tinubu’s curt denial of Osinbajo notwithstanding, the Kebbi Governor, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, on behalf of APC Governors explained the reason for Tinubu’s meeting with members of the Progressive Governors Forum.
“He stated what he has made public already – his intention to seek for the office of the President come 2023 which he has already announced publicly. He briefed us on his reasons, his thinking and his message.
“All the governors in attendance graciously came to listen to him. He acknowledged the role of the Governors in the last convention of our party, where, according to him, the governors of the party steadied the party by helping in the evolution of the leadership that is accepted and widely acknowledged as that which we wish for our party. We appreciated him, his message and will definitely discuss the message at one of our forum meetings.”
On whether Osinbajo and Tinubu contesting would put the governors in a tight corner, Bagudu said: “No, no, no. In fact, in the contrary, we appreciate our party because it has become a party that has endeared itself to Nigerians. We have many brilliant people in our party, some serving and some not serving. The fact that we have people in our party that express desire to lead the party into the highest office in electoral contest shows how much this our party has resonated with Nigerians and our party members.
“For us, it is a hallmark of success that people are showing interest, but at the end of the day and because they are leaders of the party, they will always put the party’s interest at heart.”