Osinbajo, Tinubu Will Likely Emerge As APC Next Presidential Candidate – Tanko Yakasai

Published: March 29, 2019

An Elder Statesman and Political Adviser in the Second Republic, Tanko Yakasai has said that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), might field Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, or Bola Tinubu, the National Leader of the APC, for the 2023 Presidency.

Speaking with The Interview Magazine, Yakasai said that the South-West region played a key role in the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

On the possibility of the APC fielding a Presidential Candidate from the South-East, in 2023, Yakasai stated that the region will be sidelined for the South-West. He said:

“The current calculation is that the vice-president is from the Southwest. Clearly, there is an unwritten understanding that when Buhari finishes, the Vice President will likely be the next presidential candidate of the APC.”

“The Vice President is a Yoruba man. Even if it is not Osinbajo, somebody from there, probably Tinubu, will likely emerge as the candidate of the party.
“And with the performance of the party in the southeast, I don’t see any possibility that the party will think of giving its candidacy to the southeast as against the support it earned from the southwest.
“Apart from voting, don’t forget that there were some material support which APC enjoyed from the Southwest.”

On his choice of Atiku Abubakar during the concluded presidential election, Yakasai said: “No, I do not. Quite alright, I supported Atiku because I don’t believe that Buhari has the capacity and the competence to handle the Nigerian problem.”