Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, a fresh crisis is brewing in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, to sucÂceed President Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s next leader.
Even though Tinubu is yet to forÂmally declare his interest in the presÂidential race, he has been making consultations and visiting prominent Nigerians to notify them and seek their support.
Elder statesman, Alhaji TanÂko Yakassai, who Tinubu recently visited in Abuja, disclosed that the APC national leader informed him of his presidenÂtial ambition and asked for his support.
Speaking exclusively with Daily Independent in Abuja, Senator Rufai Hanga, pioneer national chairman of the deÂfunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and APC chiefÂtain, who recently dumped the ruling party, said there is a split among the APC governors on the issue of the presidential flagbearer of the party.
According to him, while some governors in the party have settled for one of them as a presidential candidate with a serving minister in President Buhari’s administration as runÂning mate, other governors are rooting for Tinubu, saying they should rally around him for all he has done for the party.
He said, “We have about three to four factions and it is next to an impossibility to bring them together. There are governors in the party who have carved their own niche somewhere and are not ready to go with other governors.
“In fact, just three days ago, some governors sat and I heard it from very strong authority that they met and anointed one of them as presidential canÂdidate. They have chosen his running mate from among one of the serving ministers. They are willing to go it all hog and are determined that there is no going back.
