Presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general election said on Saturday that they have all agreed to drop their ambition for the 2027 presidency to pave the way for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second term bid.
Accordingly, the presidential hopefuls have formed a forum known as Forum of 2023 APC Presidential Aspirants, which is billed to be inaugurated tomorrow, Monday, December 18, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
The forum disclosed this in a statement signed by its convener/acting chairman and former Zamfara State governor, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima, and the youngest APC presidential aspirant in the 2023 polls, Dr Nicholas Felix.
“That because we are committed to the success of President Tinubu and his administration, all members who hitherto had presidential aspirations have all agreed to drop such even ahead 2027 so as to pave a smooth sail for President Tinubu to seek a second tenure. This project we are already working on and will leave no stone unturned,” the statement issued in Abuja stated.
While noting that Monday’s inauguration of the forum will also double as its end-of-the-year dinner, the APC presidential aspirants said their main objective is to support President Tinubu and the APC administration for the interest of the country.
“Today, as a people and country, we are faced with myriads of socio-economic problems and we believe that we can only surmount them when we come together, irrespective of our religious, ethnic and even political differences to face these challenges head on.
“It is therefore on this premise that all the Candidates in the 2023 APC Presidential primary have decided to come together under one umbrella to Mobilise support for our President, H.E Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR and his Renewed Hope Administration playing advisory role to enable him succeed and transform this great nation,” the forum said.
Reeling out some of its agendas, the forum said, “Basically, the objective of the forum is to ensure that we come together solidly to support President Tinubu’s administration having surrendered all our individual interests and collapsed same to support the emergence of President Tinubu.
“As critical stakeholders, we have decided that it is not enough to sit back behind the scenes but to come out and mobilise support for the government’s policies and programmes.
“This forum from time to time will play an intermediary role of ensuring that all the policies and programmes of the government are well disseminated down to the people, especially the grassroots”.
To fully stay on track, the forum of 2023 APC presidential aspirants vowed to constantly have direct engagements with the president “as a way of feedback mechanism and at the same time, render possible advice where necessary.
“This forum will leverage our individual and collective international contacts to ensure that the Nigerians in the diaspora are adequately informed and mobilised to give the President a rousing welcome. We will always go ahead and make adequate preparations in this regard,” it added.
The forum appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the Tinubu administration, saying relying on his vast experience and antecedents, the president “is working very hard to turn the fortunes of the country around”.
It also promised to rally presidential candidates of all other political parties in the February 25, 2023 presidential poll “for a harmonious working relationship in the interest of the development of the country as we believe that electioneering periods are over and it is time for all hands to be on deck.”
