A presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has revealed why he withdrew from the party’s presidential primary election to support Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The former Ogun State Governor and Senator representing Ogun Central said he stepped down to ensure that the South-West produced the next president in 2023.
According to him, his desire to become the nation’s President was not out of personal interest, but to give the South-West another opportunity to occupy the presidential seat, since 2007 when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo left the office.
Speaking at a gathering organized to welcome him back to Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, after the APC presidential primary, Amosun explained that the unanimous decision of the Northern APC Governors to back a candidate from the South, was a major reason those of them from the South West concluded on Tinubu as the party’s flagbearer.
APC aspirants from the South West, including Amosun, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and former Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, stepped down for Tinubu, paving way for his victory at the APC special convention.
However, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Pastor Tunde Bakare, who hail from Ogun State, refused to withdraw from the race.
While Osinbajo came a distant third in the shadow election, Bakare recorded zero vote.
Speaking further, Amosun clarified that he was not desperate to become the president, appreciating his followers for their understanding and support.
He noted that the unity of the South West and Nigeria in general was paramount to him, expressing optimism that the Tinubu presidency would “usher in a new Nigeria of our dreams.”
He charged his supporters to extend their prayers to Tinubu, saying he would return Nigeria to the “good old days.”
Amosun added that 80 percent of his presidential ambition was allotted to the general interest of the South-West and Nigeria as a nation.
