Ahead of the 2023 poll, some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have called for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
The group, Progressives Consolidation Group (PCG), led by Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed and Dr Eberechukwu Eli Dibia, said it has reached out to Senate President, Ahmed Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; several APC state governors; Principal Officers in the Senate and House of Representatives; members of the APC National Caretaker Committee; former and serving federal legislators; and leaders of women and youths groups.
PCG’s letter of July 14, 2021, titled, ‘APC and the future of Nigeria: Why we must get it right and consider the Osinbajo option in 2023’, argued that Osinbajo is well placed to deepen the legacies of the APC and President Buhari after 2023.
The group said the forthcoming elections are too crucial for the fate of the APC, democracy, and the history of Nigeria.
A copy of the group’s letter to Lawan reads in part: “Your Excellency, we are writing you as the Senate President and as one of the national leaders of our party. By whatever parameter of assessment, you remain one of those citizens whom God has chosen to elevate, to impact our history through the performance of constitutional responsibilities as well as other innumerable lines of action.
“With history in mind, we, members of the Progressives Consolidation Group, hereby solemnly join our voices with that of many others in appealing that you throw your weight behind our call for consideration of an Osinbajo successor administration after that of President Muhammadu Buhari would have run a full course in 2023.
“We believe, without any iota of doubt, that giving a worthy element within the system such as Vice President Osinbajo the chance to lead would not only enrich the system; it would certainly be the best assurance of stability and progress for extant developmental objectives.”
It notes further: “Against this background, it is apparent that the dynamics and outcome of the seventh national election, since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, would significantly determine the future of Nigeria’s democracy and development.
“Thus, it is with this great sense of reasoning and respect for leaders like you, as well as future generations, that we strongly appeal to you, as a major stakeholder in the affairs of our party, to join hands with us by asking other stakeholders in the party to consider Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as an appropriate person to fly our party’s presidential flag in 2023.”
