I’m Not Supporting Tinubu, He Won’t Win 2023 Presidential election – APC Chieftain, Babachir Lawal

Former Secretary to the Nigerian Government and chieftain of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Babachir Lawal, has said that APC will not win the presidential election in 2023 as a result of the Muslim-Muslim ticket.

 

Babachir in an interview with BBC, said he and others supported the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, to win the primary election, but they later realised he had been hiding his decision to pick a Muslim running mate from them.

Babachir said he was no longer supporting Tinubu and APC would lose the presidential election.

He said, “I am not for Bola Tinubu now. I am not for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“It is Bola who did not want to go with us, he chose where he wants to go, and we told him that we will not vote for him if he did a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) discussed with us and they agreed to do what we want if we support them and we agreed to support them.”

PDP is fielding a Muslim-Christian ticket, with Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate while Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State is his running mate.

Babachir added that the Labour Party tried so much to convince him and other aggrieved members to work for the party.

He added, “You see the problem of the northerners, if you say you are a Christian, it is difficult for us to get a job. You see, of the 27 universities in the north, there are only two Christian VCs and of 27 polytechnics; there are only two Christian rectors, that’s federal, but not to talk of state-owned.”

Babachir complained that the “discrimination” shown to Christians in the North was too much for them, “and you still went ahead to do Muslim-Muslim ticket; that is double blows on us.”

When he was asked whether they tried to reach Tinubu to discuss the issue, he said, “No, he is the one to look for us now, I will not look for him. We have a place to go and a place to stay. But he didn’t look for us.

“If he sees that he will win the election, let see how he will win the election.”

He maintained that he was still in the APC but he and his people would not support Tinubu.

Regarding the fact that he might be accused of anti-party conduct, Babachir said he was bothered even if he would be insulted.

 

We’re Mobilising 50,000 Rivers APC Members For You – APC Chieftain Tells Tinubu

Former chief of staff of the Rivers State Government House, Chief Tony Okocha, has said leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, were mobilising 50,000 members of the party for the emergence of former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate.

Okocha, who was the chief of staff during the administration of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

He applauded the National Assembly on its decision on direct primaries for political parties in the country, saying that by that singular act, the federal lawmakers have taken the power back to the people.

The APC chieftain said: “We thank the National Assembly for approving that power should go back to the people. By their decision on direct primaries, they have naturally taken power back to the people.

“We are here to mobilise for Bola Ahmed Tinubu for 2023 and our mission is to mobilise a minimum of 50,000 APC supporters in Rivers State so that we will all participate in the primaries that will make him the candidate of the party and subsequently the president of Nigeria.

“All the groups that support Tinubu in Rivers State have agreed to coalesce together and we are working towards his emergence. All the groups met and agreed to coalesce all our interests because we are not going to do Tinubu one and Tinubu two.

“We are all working together to ensure that Tinubu becomes the candidate of APC first and foremost. Then, at the general election, we shall all go out and elect him as President of Nigeria.”

Okocha, who is also the coordinator of Bola Ahmed Tinubu Support Vanguard (BATSV) in Rivers State, described Tinubu as competent, experienced and detribalised leader.

He said, “We are supporting Tinubu because we know that he has a Midas touch. We know Tinubu is competent; we know he is experienced and we know that he is detribalised.

“If you have a nationalist like that, why won’t you support him? He has a track record of performance and we know that he is going to transform Nigeria as he did in Lagos State.”