There are indications that presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general election may 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 Candidates, which is billed to be inaugurated today in Abuja.
A statement signed yesterday by its convener/acting chairman and former Zamfara State governor, Senator Ahmed Rufai Sani Yerima, noted that it was time for all the aspirants to get together again since the primary election held last year.
The APC presidential aspirants said their main objective was to support President Tinubu and the APC administration in the interest of the country.
A reliable source among the aspirants told LEADERSHIP that most of them have pledged to shelve their ambition to give Tinubu ample time to actualise his Renewed Hope Agenda, instead of distracting him with another contest for the party’s 2027 presidential ticket.
“Yes, what you heard is true. Most of our members still nursing presidential ambition have indicated their interest to back out ahead of 2027 in order to allow President Tinubu concentrate on governance, instead of worrying about another contest for the presidential ticket in the party’s primary.
“The idea is to assure him that he has the ticket on a platter of gold, and that he has no cause to worry about 2027. We intend to start playing an advisory role to enable the president to succeed in his renewed hope agenda,” the source who did not want his name in print told our correspondent.