Former Police Affairs Minister Abdul-Jelili Adesiyan Advises APC To Pick Tinubu As Presidential Candidate
Now that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has emerged as the PDP Presidential candidate, the only option left for All Progressives Congress (APC) is to field Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the following reasons:
(1) I had the honour of being in the center of high-level national politics by my appointment as a Federal Minister in 2014, and it has exposed me to the “thinking and behaviour of Northerners”. They are very egocentric and deeply sentimental about Islamic religion. Therefore bringing out a Christian from the South to face Atiku will spell defeat for APC.
2) The Northern Muslims love power & they need not be enlightened to have strong attachments to power; e.g. an ordinary Okada rider of northern extraction in the south rides on his motorcycle with pride and a false sense of being in power!
(3) The only APC aspirant from the South that an average Northerner respects is Bola Ahmed Tinubu; … just like they respected & admired MKO Abiola back then.
They know that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu commands lot of respect in his SouthWest zone and also in SE & SS zones. No wonder he used his influence to enthrone President Muhammad Buhari after PMB’s fourth attempt to be president. For this reason, they may want to repay BAT for his support & loyalty for PMB in 2015 & 2019 general elections.
(4) Another important reason is the monetization of politics. BAT is the only one who can match Atiku with his money. He is, to the best of my knowledge, the only one whose presidential campaign can also attract donations from wealthy people because they know he can win.
I am not writing this piece just out of sentiments. What I am saying is borne out of facts & reality as I see it.
I want APC to win the presidential election in 2023.
If a Southern aspirant is not fielded by APC against the PDP’s Northern aspirant in 2023 it may as well be the end of Nigeria’s unity.
I am therefore humbly calling on Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Gov Kayode Fayemi, Minister Rotimi Amechi and other southern APC candidates to step down for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; … just as the Northern aspirants did for Atiku Abubakar during the PDP primary election.
It is the path of honour and we will all respect you for it.
(Abdul Jelili Oyewale Adesiyan is a former Minister of Police Affairs)
