Leading All Progressives Congress (APC), chieftain Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has pleaded with senators of the ruling party to support his ambition to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
Tinubu made the appeal during a meeting with about 70 APC senators, when he visited the National Assembly, Wednesday, to lobby them to support his presidential bid.
The two-term former Lagos State governor, related to the senators his discussion with President Buhari about his ambition, noting that he is determined to ensure that his bid do not cause any friction between him and the President.
“I told Mr. President that my ambition is not blind to the extent that I will step on his toes. I just want to step into his shoes and not on his toes,” Tinubu was quoted as saying by Abubakar Sidiq Usman, the Special Assistant on New Media to the Senate President.
“I want to beg you to look at my capacity and my experience. I am perhaps the only one who has been in the Senate, who has been a governor and aspiring to become President,” Usman, who shared excerpts of Tinubu’s remarks, further quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, who led the APC senators into the session with Tinubu, said the APC caucus of the Senate has remained true to the ideals of the party since they were elected in 2019.
Lawan told Tinubu, “2023 is going to be defined by what we do between now and then and what we have done between 2015 and now. That means we have to remain focused as an administration and United as a party.
“You have done so much as a governor. You were a member of this National Assembly and a member of this special legislative organization.”
Tinubu, who declared for the presidency after meeting President Buhari in January, has continued to hold consultations with relevant stakeholders regarding his ambition.