By Temidayo Akinsuyi
Prince Kassim Afegbua, a former Commissioner for Information in Edo state on Tuesday said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Rotimi Amaechi, former Minister of Transport will have no choice but to support Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the presidential flagbearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections.
Speaking with DAILY INDEPENDENT, Afegbua expressed confidence that Tinubu will get the support of the two APC stalwarts as they have both benefited politically from the former Lagos state governor in the past.
In June, Tinubu clinched the APC presidential ticket with 1,271 votes. Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers state, polled 316 votes and was second in the exercise while Osinbajo came third with 235 votes.
Afegbua also predicted that the same scenario will play out in the 2023 presidential election. According to him, Tinubu will emerge the winner while Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will clinch the second position.
He said despite all the noise on social media and rallies, Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate will be in the third place when the results are announced.
“Osinbajo and Amaechi will support Tinubu’s aspiration. .It is in their best interest to support him. I say so because they have been beneficiaries of Tinubu’s political largesse, so to speak”.
“Of course, from day one, I didn’t see Amaechi as someone who has enough experience to lead Nigeria. He doesn’t have the required skills needed to run a heterogeneous country like Nigeria”.
“Osinbajo is cerebral, outspoken and all of that but how much votes did he get during the presidential primary? If he didn’t contest the primary, they would have said ‘Oh, if Osinbajo had contested, he would have won but he felt the whole dynamics that came to play”.
“When he spoke at the convention, he almost received the loudest ovation but when the results came out, where was he? He came a distant third. That is the same way a Peter Obi will end in 2023. You can shout on the streets, hold rally as you like but at the end of the day, it doesn’t translate to votes”.
“Politics is a cultivated indulgence. It is not garrulous. It is disciplined and there is a way of dispensing with it to carry people along. When there are old loyalties, it is always difficult to break. So a Peter Obi cannot break the loyalty that people have for Tinubu over the years.”
Culled from Daily Independent