- Three S-West Govs Kick, Say It’s Personal Political Agenda
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state and one of the national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will today flag off what his political supporters call the South-West 2023 Agenda.
The event which is scheduled to hold in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Tuesday, December 15, at precisely 10 am at Mauve21-Hotels, Ring Road, is projected to see to what the organizers call the unveiling of the Southwest Agenda.
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A copy of an invitation letter signed by Senator Dayo Adeyeye (Chairman, National planning committee), and sighted by The New Diplomat said,“ the invitation is in recognition of your commitment to the progressives ideal and unalloyed loyalty to our principal; leader of the Progressives| Democrats in Nigeria, H.E. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu(Jagaban Borgu).”
The letter further stated: “We on behalf of SWAGA’23 are glad to welcome you to Ibadan as part of this great family as we being the journey to the realization of our 2023 goal.”
But in a swift reaction, The New Diplomat gathered that political loyalists of three southwest governors namely those of Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo have described the move as that of the former Lagos state governor’s personal political agenda and not that of South West.
A top politician from Ondo who wishes to remain anonymous said: “It is the former Governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s personal agenda. People like Dayo (Senator Dayo Adeyeye) should be very careful with their choice of words. Asiwaju Tinubu’s political ambition is not the same as that of South-West. For me for example, if we in the South West are zoned the presidency and I am asked to pick, I will rather prefer Prof Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president. And I am entitled to my reasons.”
This development is coming against the background of lobbying by various ge-political zones ahead 2023. While the South-East has been making calls for the APC to zone the presidency to the South East zone, many others insist that there are three geo-political zones in the south. They are South-East, South-West and South-South geo-political zones, respectively.
Those who hold this view also argue that former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration ran Nigeria for eight unbroken years, making the South-West to enjoy the seat of power that long, a development which leaves the South-East and South-South as the zones with the least political access to power since 1999.
Perceptive political analysts while calling on the Igbos to put their house in order say Nnamdi Kanu’s continued rhetorics over Biafra Republic may be an albatross and a great disadvantage of the South-East in the cold calculations towards 2023.
Recall also that some Yoruba elders who are members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had recently visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
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Among those on the visit were a pioneer chairman of the ACN and former governor of Osun state, Chief Bisi Akande, a former Governor of Ogun State, and veteran journalist, Chief Segun Osoba, and Dr. Yomi Finnih, an Ikeja based medical doctor who was a pioneer member of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), among others.
Reasons for the visit were not immediately made public. However, some political analysts believe that the visit might not be unconnected with the political permutations of 2023.
Recall that Ebonyi state governor, Chief Dave Umahi also recently defected to the APC, a move which some interpret as a political action with some political dynamics that are still unclear.
Recall also that there are reports that other South-East governors, including that of Enugu state, Hon Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, aka “Gburugburu” are seriously weighing the option of defecting to the APC, a development that would have telling political effects on the South-East.
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