Tinubu, Osinbajo allegedly cold war over 2023 Presidency

Ilesanmi AdekanbiOctober 24, 2021

3 minutes read

The ranks of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) seems to be divided ahead of the 2023 elections due to the alleged cold war between Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu.

According to a THIS DAY report on Sunday, Osinbajo is at loggerheads with the APC National Leader Tinubu over the race for the Presidency.

According to sources, this might be connected to the reason Tinubu snubbed the Vice President during the latter’s London visit.

The APC leader had been convalescing in London for three months due to surgery for an undisclosed ailment but was reportedly annoyed at the late visit of Osinbajo.

No fewer than 30 politicians, including President Muhammadu Buhari, Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Umar Ganduje (Kano), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), and Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), visited him in London.

“Essentially, Osinbajo arrived London to attend a conference and then, see Tinubu. As he arrived, he was supposed to see Tinubu the next morning but Tinubu left town by 6 a.m. the next morning to avoid seeing him.

“Even Adeboye (General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye) had arrived a day earlier and they planned to see Tinubu.

“Tinubu has ramped up his campaign and Osinbajo also wants to be president and both cannot be president.

“So, now the die is cast for the battle of his life. He has not decided to run but a lot of people are mobilising him to run.

“The president came to see Asiwaju; other leaders came; Osinbajo did not come. If Osinbajo had wanted to come, he had enough time to do so. Tinubu wanted to return because he wanted to avoid the crowd in Lagos. And he returned when he did,” he explained.

Strong indications that Osinbajo may part ways with his political mentor over the 2023 presidency had emerged during his birthday in March 2020 when Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, who delivered an address on behalf of the APC Progressives Governors Forum, hinted that Osinbajo is a good candidate to succeed Buhari.

Osinbajo’s supporters, under the aegis of the Progressives Consolidation Group (PCG), were the first and only support group that has received the approval of the APC to canvass support for his emergence as the party’s presidential candidate for the 2023 presidential election.

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The approval was contained in a letter titled, ‘Letter of Recognition as a Support Group,’ dated October 4, 2021, and signed by the Director of Administration of the APC, Alhaji Abubakar Suleiman.

The letter, which was addressed to the PCG, read in part, “We write to inform you that the National Chairman, His Excellency, Mai Mala Buni, has approved your recognition as a support group of the party.”

Even though the supporters of Osinbajo and Tinubu have insisted that the alleged attempt to pit the two leaders against each other will fail, there are no indications that any of them will drop his presidential aspiration.

Reacting to this situation, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, slammed the reports saying Osinbajo will never “endorse an endeavour that seeks to pitch them against each other.”

“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo are members of the same party,” the former senator said.

“Osinbajo regards Tinubu as a respected leader of a political family to which he belongs and will therefore not for any reason endorse an endeavour that seeks to pitch them against each other.

“We are not unaware of some people who may want to foist a crack among our leaders. Such an attempt is abortive. Osinbajo and Tinubu relationship dates way back and it shall continue to wax strong,” Ojudu explained.