The immediate past chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Otunba Henry Ajomale, has revealed those ganging up against the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Speaking with Daily Independent, on Wednesday, Ajomale said some party members are working against the presidential ambition of Tinubu ahead of the 2023 election.
According to Ajomale, some APC members are making moves to bar Tinubu from contesting for the highest political office of the land. He noted these moves are based on the latest developments in the party.
He, however, failed to disclose the reason some members of the party were opposed to Tinubu emerging as the party’s presidential candidate.
Ajomale opined that those planning to bar Tinubu from contesting in the 2023 poll are also nursing the ambition and they feel threatened by Tinubu’s chances.
He said: “Of course, there are attempts being made by some people in the APC to stop Asiwaju’s presidential ambition. That is obvious. Because a lot of things are going on in the party which makes one believe that there is a serious attempt at ensuring that the man doesn’t contest for the presidency of this country.
“They are seriously ganging up against him but why they are doing that, nobody knows. Because every Nigerian has the right to contest for any position in this country inasmuch as he is qualified to do so. “I believe that Asiwaju is one of the leaders in the party and a leader in this country that cannot be denied any opportunity of contesting for any position in this country.
“So, to me, I know that there are so many gang-ups within the party from people who are afraid of Bola Tinubu. Maybe they are doing that because of their own ambition. But there is nobody that should be deprived of the opportunity to contest for any position in this country.”
Speaking on the controversy trailing the issue of zoning, Ajomale said there was an agreement that the presidency would be zoned to the South after the North had completed their terms.
He also warned the party leadership against taking any decision that would contravene the unwritten agreement among leaders of the party in 2015.
He said: “I was part of the meeting where that agreement was reached, and it will do our party a lot of good if we can keep to the terms of that agreement as anything contrary may portend doom for the APC.
“The general expectation is that after President Muhammadu Buhari must have completed his tenure in 2023, then power should rotate to the South.
“It is a gentleman’s unwritten agreement, and we should be honourable by keeping to that agreement. If we do anything contrary, it will do APC a lot of incalculable damage. We in the South will not fold our hands if any group or individual attempts to derail this arrangement.
“We know what the South, especially the South West, did to ensure that Buhari emerged as the president in 2015. Before then, he had contested and lost on more than two occasions. It was when he entered into an alliance with South West leaders that it became possible for him to win the presidency. So, it will be unfair to deny the South the presidency in 2023.”
