The Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has urged the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to act like a statesman and drop his 2023 presidential ambition for a younger person.
Okechukwu, who is a foundation member of the ruling APC, was reacting to Tinubu’s recent comments that he would not turn down the request by Nigerians to run for President in 2023.
In an interaction with newsmen in Abuja, Tinubu had also stated that he was still consulting widely and would come out with a position soon.
However, Okechukwu, in a statement on Sunday, said instead of putting himself forward, Tinubu should continue playing the kingmaker role by supporting and mentoring a young presidential aspirant from the southern part of the country.
“If I am consulted by our national leader, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on whether he should run or not for the exalted office of the President of Nigeria in 2023, my candid advice will be that he should use his abundant Almighty God’s endowment to unite the APC and unite the South and by extension our beloved country, by backing a candidate from the southeast,” Okechukwu said in the statement.
“It would be unstatesman like for a man like Tinubu to put himself forward at this time that the clamour for a South-East President is the loudest.
“Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu should rather pick and support a younger person from the South-East in 2023. By so doing, he would have further written his name in the annals of history.”
Okechukwu explained that supporting a young aspirant from the south would unite the region, adding that some northerners feel reluctant to support the south because of their lack of unity.
