Minister of Works and Housing and former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has said he would only support the purported presidential ambition of the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, if and when he declares interest.
Fashola, on Monday, said Tinubu has not made his interest for the presidency in 2023 public, adding that until that is done, he would not pre-empt the APC leader by going ahead to say what he would do to support his bid.
“I think from the last conversation we had, the official statement he issued was that he was busy supporting President Muhammadu Buhari’s mandate and had not made up his mind to go for the presidency yet; that is all he said, unless he had said otherwise since then but not to my knowledge.
“And his last public statement that I have read was about the issue of today-our challenges in managing our diversity and our economy.
“These are the public statements he had made so far, and those are the right things any leader worth the name should be concerned about, so I am not surprised that he is doing that.
“Of course, once it is the presidency everybody falls in line, but let him come out first and say ‘I am throwing my hat in ring’, then you will see what I will do.”
There are suggestions that the former Lagos Governor will be in the ballot for the 2023 general elections, with the insinuations that the APC will zone power to the South but that has not been confirmed as some quarters of the ruling party are advocating for an open contest based on competence.
