2023: Tinubu Makes Inroads Into Opposition Camp, Woos Atiku’s Supporters

Political gladiators and major stakeholders in the 2023 general elections have begun the process of expanding their political networks. One of such players is Asiwaju Bola Tinibu, who has been making deft political moves by making inroads into the three geo-political zones in the north and wooing key supporters of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the major opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP). Investigations conducted by New National Star reveal that Tinubu’s moves transcend party affiliation as his large net is catching big political fish in the PDP and other political parties. For example, a former Governor of Ekiti state and one of the pillars of the party(PDP) in the South -West is one of Tinubu’s new converts.

The former governor who spoke at his Afao Ekiti residence in Ekiti State as part of activities to mark his 60th birthday on November 15, 2020, said; “I am not championing the cause of Tinubu, I am not in the position to do that, but there is no denying the fact that Tinubu is a prominent Yoruba leader, whether in APC or in PDP. There is no gainsaying that fact. Fayose is a prominent son of the Yoruba nation. Governors Nyesom Wike, Ifeanyi Okowa, and Okezie Ikpeazu are prominent sons of southern Nigeria. “What I am trying to say is that we can’t hide their identities and goodwill for political reasons.

We can’t deny their contributions. Other leaders from the North like Ahmadu Bello made different impacts. So, Tinubu has paid his dues. I have paid my dues, Okowa has paid his dues, Wike has paid his dues. We need to acknowledge them,” he stressed. A national newspaper had on October 8, 2016, quoted Lere Olayinka, Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media to Fayose to have said; “Even though I am not a member of the APC and I will never be, I have elected to stand in defence of the Yoruba nation once again by saying ‘no’ to the continuous dishonourable treatment being meted out to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu having paid his dues.”

New National Star learnt that the current political differences between Ex. Governor Fayose and Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state might not be unconnected with the struggle for who controls the body and soul of political activities in the South-West and who could direct members of the opposition party to vote for a Yoruba candidate, irrespective of party affiliation, come 2023. A source in the Ekiti branch of the APC traced the current strive in the state branch to supporters of Asiwaju Tinubu holding their ground for the emergence of Tinubu as the standard-bearer of the party as against loyalists of the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi who believe he should be the APC presidential candidate. A strong political leader from the north in whose house the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was formed before the party merged with others to form the APC was said to have visited the Lion of Bourdillon, as Tinubu is fondly called in political circles, over five times since November 11, 2020.

The politician, who is believed to be the ‘political brainbox’ of President Muhammadu Buhari during the CPC and early days of APC, was also an influential figure in the campaigns of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the 2019 Presidential campaigns. Although Atiku was defeated in the contest, the politician is alleged to be building bridges for Asiwaju Tinubu by talking to his co – party members in both APC and PDP and convincing them of the need to support Tinubu. Tinubu’s move to reciprocate the visit of some Muslim groups across Nigeria that visited him and the Oba of Lagos after the EndSARS protest in Lagos over the loss of lives and properties has made him pay social visits to the northern part of the country, thus planting political fruits in those places he visited. The visits paid off in Kano, the commercial nerve centre of northern Nigeria, as the Jagaban Borgu, during a wedding Fatiha of Sheikh Muhammad Bin-Usman’s daughter got the blessing of some prominent clerics. Speaking on behalf of the Ulamas and Imams, Sheik Shehu Shehu Maihula said the endorsement of Tinubu for the presidency in 2023 was “payback for what the Jagaban did for one of our own, President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, who had tried severally to clinch the presidency but failed until Tinubu joined forces with him in 2014”. “It is indeed on record and in our minds what you did for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2014.

This is somebody who had tried all he could to clinch his Presidential ambition but failed serially, not until you joined forces with him. “You, Bola Tinubu, brought to Buhari the Muslims and Christians in the south to mend fences with the North for him to achieve his long time desire. This, we will revenge and revenge well, by giving you all the necessary support you require to achieve your desire; this is an assurance to you for what you have done for us,” he stressed.” The Ulamas and Imams may have the blessings of the state Governor in this enterprise as the governor, Alhaji Abdulahi Umar Ganduje, is said to be a Tinubu associate.

A top member of the party in Kano who sought anonymity informed this newspaper that;” it is an open secret in Kano that if you cut Ganduje’s flesh, it is Tinubu’s blood that will flow out”. New National Star learnt from political pundits that the former Lagos governor had made serious inroads into Borno state. According to them, the recent condolence visit of Tinubu to Borno state shortly after some farmers were killed by insurgents was secondary. The primary reason for the visit, according to them, is to sow political seeds ahead of the 2023 general elections. In addition, the endorsement of Tinubu by Babachir David Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who also hails from Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s home state is a major blow to the Abubakar camp as Lawal is said to be an influential personality in Adamawa politics.