If ability to perform under intense pressure, proven ability to assemble the right team and innovative leadership are worth considering in electing a leader for Nigeria in 2023, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presents the most formidable candidate in person of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, says Barrister Akeem Agbaje, APC Oyo State governorship aspirant in the last primary election.
Agbaje said this in an interview on Saturday.
According to him, Tinubu’s track record contributed immensely to his party’s emergence as a ruling party since 2015.
“President Muhammadu Buhari should be commended for saying let us pick somebody that is very popular and can give us victory in the coming election.
“And everybody knows that it was Tinubu who, within the present crop of APC, has the highest potential to achieve that. His record as Executive Governor of Lagos State is probably unmatched by any state as we speak today.
“What we need today is somebody who can manage our resources and be innovative. We have a lot of challenges we are facing today as a nation, we need somebody with requisite experience.
“Tinubu is not telling you what he can do, he has done it with great results and is still ready to do it better in more challenging situations.
“As governor of Lagos state, Tinubu faced the most challenge, can any governor, as we speak today, cope when federal allocation is not released to the state?
“But when Lagos State was not paid allocation for years, he made sure that the state did not only survived, but it excelled significantly,” he said.
Agbaje added that the APC national leader was also a technocrat and experienced politician.
“No context you situate Tinubu that he won’t fit into. You should look at his background, he worked with Mobil at a very high level in Mobil – Nigeria, that makes him a technocrat, ” he added.
He noted other inbuilt qualities of leadership, needed to take the nation higher that are innate in Tinubu.
“Competence alone cannot take Nigeria out of its present challenge. Look at Tinubu at the presidential primary, people across the country stood for him, he has relationship with people across the country.
“He is a man who is suited to challenge and excel under pressure, that is what we need in Nigeria of today. Not somebody who hasn’t faced challenges before.
“We need people who are tested and succeeded, you can’t rule Nigeria without managing our differences.
“Tinubu is not somebody that will get to a point and say “who do I know in Sokoto or in Ebonyi?”, he has relationship with people from all over the country. Such a personality builds confidence.”
He lauded Tinubu’s commitment to progressive politics and patience to follow through in his conviction from 1999 till date, unlike some politicians who moved from one party to another whenever they fail in their ambition.
On the development of electoral process in the country, the respected lawyer commended INEC for building the trust of stakeholders in its conduct.
“If you look at INEC, the two successive chairmen, (Prof. Atahiru Jega and Prof. Mahmood Yakubu) have exhibited a very high level of integrity in the conduct of anything related to election.
“They have done that to the extent that you can hardly blame INEC for any election they conducted. INEC has been firm, it has been disciplined in their approach to electoral process.”
He also commended the National Assembly for the new electoral act that now removed some political appointees from the list of eligible delegates in an election.
Agbaje commended Nigerians, especially the youths for their massive turnout during the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) which had recorded huge increase in the number of registered voters in the coming elections.
He urged the electorate to re-elect APC into power in 2023, saying it presents the most qualified candidates the nation needs at this point in time esoecially tbe oresidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
