'Tinubu most qualified to succeed Buhari in 2023'

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lanre Rasaq, says the party's national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has all it takes to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

In an interview with Telegraph, Rasaq said he is familiar with Tinubu's antecedents, adding that the APC national leader would replicate the "Lagos success story" in the whole of Nigeria.

He claimed that Tinubu sacrificed a lot for Buhari to emerge president in 2015.

"The public is entitled to their opinion, but God knows that those who sacrificed to build up APC and for Buhari to become president, saved the country and will still see reason to do it again after Buhari’s tenure, and will even do it better," Rasaq said.

"In the South-West today, the tallest person politically can’t be better than Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, so I will encourage and plead with him to run for the office of president. I know his antecedents, I know his pedigree and I know he can run affairs of Nigeria effectively and smoothly. Look at the financial engineering foundation he laid for Lagos State, which explains why governors that came after him found it easy to run affairs of the state.

"I believe that Tinubu can replicate what he did in Lagos State at the federal level, so I will appeal to him to run and I pray to God to give him good health, strength and wisdom to take Nigeria to another level, after Buhari might have taken it to the next level, so that Nigeria can maximize and develop her natural endowment," he declared.

While Tinubu is yet to declare his intention to run for president in 2023, Buhari has said that he would not pick his successor.

“Succession? To me, this is very funny. If I find anybody, I will create more problems for him or her. Let those who want to be president try as much as I did”, Buhari told a group known as Progressive in Academics (Pro-Acad) at the presidential villa, Abuja on Tuesday, July 30.

“I believe those who are interested need to know that I tried three times and the fourth time, I thank God and technology. Before they announced the result on radio and television, we got the results and those who disagreed were asked to go to court. Most of my supporters are looking for next day’s meal, they don’t have money to give to lawyers. So I said God dey!

“So, the fourth time because of technology they couldn’t rig the elections, so I won. So this time around I tried to work hard. I think you have more to do as intellectuals to make sure you correct Nigeria’s intellectual development, it is very important for the next generation.

“A lot of our young people are taking things for granted. Imagine to contest elections three times and ending up in the Supreme Court, it takes a lot of conviction and hard work. But people take things for granted, they say ‘I want to be the president’. As if I just closed my eyes and opened and I got it", he said