A civic group, the Identify the Right Leader Initiative, says the All Progressives Congress will have a hard time marketing any other candidate for the 2023 Presidency besides Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN).
The group also said all political steps and strategies being taken by the APC towards the 2023 presidential election will end up in favour of Osinbajo.
The group, in a statement on Thursday, said it is convinced that the Vice President will declare his intention to run for the exalted office in Aso Rock and clinch the APC ticket.
“Everything points to the fact that Osinbajo will win the race, all things being equal,” the group’s National Coordinator, Temi Okesanjo, said in the statement.
Okesanjo stated that the Vice President does not need an ultimatum to declare interest to contest for President in the 2023 election, as choosing whether to run or not is no longer his call.
Okesanjo said, “We are not in doubt as to whether or not Osinbajo will contest in 2023. We’ve since moved past that stage. Groups like ours are out with prescribed arrangements for Prof. Osinbajo’s presidency because he represents everything Nigeria needs at this time in our national life.”
“Many people seem to overlook the fact that Osinbajo is dedicated to his Vice Presidential duties which are critical to our socio-economic development as a nation. He cannot precipitously abandon those tasks to commence an extensive, physically and mentally demanding presidential campaign for 2023 at this time.
Without a doubt, APC will eventually favour Prof. Osinbajo. As a committed party man who wrote the APC’s 2014 manifesto, ‘The Roadmap’, which led the party to its historic victory at the 2015 presidential election, the elements are clearly aligned in Osinbajo’s favour to win his party’s ticket.
“For us, we stand to be counted among the numerous socio-civic groups that have declared support for Osinbajo for 2023. The APC will get it right by picking Osinbajo as its flagbearer for 2023 and we expect an easy campaign because it is a case of the product selling itself. APC will have a harder time marketing any other candidate for the election,” she added.
Already, APC chieftains including former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu; Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi; former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, have declared interest in running for the 2023 Presidency and participating in the APC presidential primary later this year.
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