Adebayo Shittu, former communications minister and a national secretaryship aspirant in the just concluded All Progressives Congress, APC, national convention, has said that the race to presidential ticket is not going to be a single face race among the Yoruba aspirants but one that will be competitive among the entire southern aspirants.
Shittu expressed this view while featuring last Monday on Raypower 95.1 fm popular current affairs programme tagged Politics Today.
When asked by Olayemi Afolabi, the presenter who anchored the political programme who will pick up APC presidential ticket preparatory to 2023 general elections between the current vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former minister explained: “I will rather describe the selection process as a waiting game and I am not too sure we will be able to produce a presidential candidate the way we produced the National Chairman. But I know Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is interested in the Presidential race and he will soon declare because his boys are going round the country and they have approached me. He was my class mate in law school and when he was Commissioner in Lagos I was also a Commissioner at a time in Oyo State so he is someone I know very well. And I also know that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu the Jagaban of Nigeria is contesting politically and otherwise and I am not too sure whether our leader will allow Yoruba to have the presidential ticket because of the agitation from South-South and South-east.
“I know two people from South-South that want to contest and I also know that two Aspirants from Southeast are also interested.
“Reminded by the host, Afolabi that ACN bloc in APC contributed six governors as against a governor from CPC bloc at the formation of APC, Shittu replied that ” for me is not about blocs when talking about the electoral value of President Buhari because in 2011 when President Buhari contested, he garnered 12 million votes from the north, he only got 500 thousand votes from the entire Southern Nigeria, in 2015 Buhari got 12 million votes from the North and got 3 million votes from the entire South.
“In 2019, President Buhari still garnered 12 million votes from the North and less than 5 million votes from the entire Southern Nigeria,” he said.
Asked if Barr. Shittu is aware how Benyamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister of Israel lost his seat by a single vote, Shittu said ‘it is a waiting game’
On his own part, a lecturer from the department of History and International studies in Osun State University Dr. Oluranti Afowowe who was hosted along side with the former Minister said President Buhari has power and influence to determine who will be APC Presidential Candidate.
“Again let me affirm that the honourable minister is well informed on this game and I am not a member of APC but given the pedigree of the Nigerian Politics, the best may not emerge because the power of executive is too enormous and base on the system, the President will still determine who becomes the president,” Dr. Afowowe submitted
