2023 presidency: Atiku will again run to Dubai after his defeat by Tinubu, Prince Afegbua

…Hails APC Northern governors for power shifts to South
..Says ex-VP ill prepared for presidency

By Editor

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Kassim Afegbua has said the emergence of Bola Tinubu as Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was justice to the Southern part of the country.

Prince Afegbua spoke via a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, where he rated Tinubu’s chances at the 2023 polls brighter than those of his PDP’s counterpart, Atiku Abubakar.

Afegbua, who was a former Edo State Commissioner for Information was one of the PDP chieftain advocating for the zoning of the 2023 Presidential ticket to the South.

He also commended Northern governors elected on the platform of the APC for insisting that power shifts back to the South in 2023.

Recall Afegbua was one of Atiku’s spokespersons in 2019 when he contested and lost to President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.

While dismissing the leadership credentials of Atiku, Afegbua noted that having held elective offices as Senator and governor, Tinubu comes to the race better prepared than the Turakin Adamawa.

He said, “The point must be made that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, 70, has wider political experience and skills than Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, 76, who has been contesting for President since 1992. During that period, Ahmed Tinubu was elected Senator of the Federal Republic.

“In 1999, Bola Tinubu was elected governor of Lagos state, where he served till 2007. His work experience coupled with his legislative and executive experiences, have better prepared him for Presidential responsibility.

“Alhaji Atiku does not have executive prowess; even his role as Vice President in charge of the privatisation policy of the Obasanjo administration still left many unanswered questions.

“So, what the APC has done by the emergence of Bola Tinubu, is giving justice to the South, which judgment the PDP denied her. In the spirit of geo-political balancing, the Presidency in 2023 is better suited for Southern candidate, in sync with the position of the APC Northern governors.

“Those power oligarchs in PDP who condemned zoning, have suddenly started looking for a Southern candidate for Vice President. That is the height of double standards and hypocrisy of some PDP chieftains who worked for the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against the run of play.

“With a Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi as two dominant Southern candidates coupled with other candidates, the electorates have a wide range of qualified candidates from which to make their choice.

“At the risk of sounding superfluous, it needs be stated that Bola Tinubu is not just a formidable candidate, but one who has built persons and sustained alliances across the socio-political divides in this country.

“Bola Tinubu does not abandon his lieutenants and followers, before and after prosecuting any political battle, unlike Atiku Abubakar that would always abandon his foot soldiers at the most critical time.

“Be assured that Atiku Abubakar will run away to Dubai again after his defeat in 2023. Aside from being a tested war-horse who has fought many political battles successfully, Bola Tinubu is a pan-Nigerian who is liberal and generally de-tribalized.

“His trajectory is loaded with anecdotes of his major breakthroughs in situations that are almost unassailable. I therefore commend the APC for being sensitive to the aspirations of geo-political balancing with their choice of a trusted, tested and rugged hand, in Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

“I maintain my earlier position that after a Buhari Presidency, the best bet for this country, is to have a Southerner succeeding him; as eloquently attenuated by the APC Northern governors.

“Those who manipulated the PDP convention through subterfuge, betrayal and machiavellian doctrines, will have to contend with serious challenges ahead in the campaigns. You cannot plant injustice and harvest justice, and vice-versa. Those who planted political whirlwind, must harvest multiple whirlwind in the run up to the election.”