2023 Presidency: APC inaugurates Tinubu support group in Rivers
A faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Senator Magnus Abe has inaugurated the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Support (BATS) group to support the politician’s perceived presidential ambition.
Although the former governor of Lagos State has not declared his interest in contesting for president in 2023, there are indications that he might join the presidential race.
Speaking at the event, an ex-senator, Wilson Ake, who is the chairman of the group’s steering committee urged the ruling party to give Tinubu a chance to contest for the position because of his contributions to the party.
He claimed that the attack on Tinubu’s businesses during the #EndSARS crisis in Lagos in October 2020, was an attempt to eliminate him from the presidential race even before it started.
Ake said, “For someone to work and and another person will come and eat is not of God. We are supporting Tinubu because we know that he is eminently qualified, and he has worked so hard to see APC win; so we do not have that wicked spirit in us that is why we are saying we must pay back Tinubu what he has put in APC.
“We are not against anybody who wants to try. Anybody that wants to try should go ahead, but they should not use the question that they must eliminate Tinubu to succeed, it is not of God.
“They went as far as starting #endsars in Lagos state by burning Tinubu’s hotel, his television house, his newspaper house when Tinubu is not in government. You can see that the target is how do we decimate this man? After you have worked so hard, then people will say you should go to the back and sit?
He added that Tinubu should not be disqualified on the ground of age because he’s “eminently qualified” to be Nigeria’s president.
“Tinubu worked so hard for APC, and there are some persons who think that people should work and be dumped in the end, those that have the spirit of using and dumping need prayers.
“When Tinubu was working for APC, nobody thought about his age. He has finished working, now they are saying he is too old he should go and sit down. Let one young person come and take over, it does not work like that.”
On his part, the state coordinator the group, Chief Tony Okocha described Tinubu as a detribalised Nigerian, adding that during his reign as Lagos governor, he appointed non indigenes into his cabinet.
Okocha maintained that the group’s mission in Rivers is to mobilize 50,000 APC members to support Tinubu for presidency in 2023.