The All Progressives Congress faction loyal to Senator Magnus Abe in Rivers State has expressed its support for the rumoured 2023 presidential ambition of the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
This is as a former senator who represented Rivers West senatorial district in the National Assembly, Wilson Ake, alleged that the #EndSARS protest in 2020 was targeted at Tinubu.
Ake spoke at the inauguration of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Support Group christened BATS Vanguard, Rivers State chapter at Freedom House, Senator Abe campaign Secretariat in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, on Saturday.
Ake, who is also the chairman, steering committee of the BATS Vanguard in the state, said Tinubu was qualified to be Nigeria’s next president come 2023. He said he disagreed with those who described Tinubu as too old for the exalted office, saying his contribution to Nigeria’s democracy and the party had qualified him for the job.
He said, “For us in Rivers State, we are solidly behind the presidency of our national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He worked so hard for the APC and he’s a detribalised man who has done so well for our democracy over the years.
“When Tinubu was working so hard for the APC, nobody talked about his age. He has finished working, now they are saying go and sit down let one young person come and take over. Does it work like that?
“I believe Tinubu is going there to make things better for Nigeria and Nigerians. He has the capacity and the ability to fix the economy of the country.â€
He said the presidency was open to all qualified Nigerians and nobody should pull down another person for them to succeed. “They went so far; started #EndSARS. In Lagos State, they ended up burning Tinubu’s television house and torched his wewspaper house when he was not in government. The target was how do we decimate this man.â€
He charged leadership of the APC in the state to give Abe the opportunity to contest the next governorship election in 2023, saying the Rivers South-East where Abe comes from had yet to produce the governor of the state since its creation.
A former Chief of Staff during the administration of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Tony Okocha, said Tinubu had the ability to turn around the fortune of Nigeria the same way he developed Lagos State while he was governor.
“Tinubu is the champion of Nigeria’s democracy. He has the capacity to turn around the economy of Nigeria the same way he did in Lagos as governor.â€
He said Tinubu understood the problems of Nigeria and knew how to solve them, adding that he had shown himself as a detribalised Nigerian who had developed a lot of people who came close to him irrespective of tribe or religion.
Okocha added that though Abe was not present at the event, he (Abe) was the leader of the group in the state and that he supported everything they were doing.
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