Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, former Minister of Works and Housing and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), speaks to TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI on developments in the party on the 2023 presidential election. He also shares his thoughts on threats by his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to stop the reign of the APC in Lagos in 2023. Excerpts:

There has been war of words between supporters of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Vice- President over the 2023 presidential election. While Osinbajo is yet to declare, some APC members are saying he shouldn’t contest as doing so will amount to betraying Tinubu who nominated him for Vice-President. What is your take on that?

That is irrelevant and anti-democratic. Getting power in democracy requires struggle. Nobody can tell me because he has assisted me in the past, maybe 20 years ago, then I cannot compete with you. Saying that is anti-democratic. In democracy, you have to exhibit your skills and show people what you have to offer. Yes, Osinbajo served Tinubu years ago when he was governor but he cannot be subservient to him for life. He has to move on someday. If Osinbajo can bear the brunt and withstand the rigours of contesting for the presidency, nobody should stop him. Let him go out and campaign. Let him and other aspirants, including Asiwaju come out to the field to test their popularity. The race is for the fittest, brightest and the cleverest person. Nobody should beg or threaten anybody not to contest. That is not democracy. Let all qualified aspirants go out and collect the forms. Whoever the party picks, that is our candidate and we will all work for his victory.

Do you think president should support any presidential aspirant as his successor or he should be neutral and allow all the aspirants to test their strengths on the field?

Successor is as important as yourself. We have seen and witnessed all over the world where people make mistake about who is going to succeed them. It landed some of them in jail. So, you must be persuaded that the person succeeding you will continue with your programmes and will like you as a person. The issue of succession is always a big problem. It happened to Obasanjo. That mistake Obasanjo made is the brunt we are bearing in Nigeria today. Obasanjo couldn’t make up his mind about who will succeed him. If he had made up his mind then, we will not be where we are today. He was experimenting instead of being focused. I’m sure in his inner mind today, he doesn’t like himself on the issue of that successor. How can anyone write about the history of Nigeria today without writing about Obasanjo’s successor that brought us to where we are today. It was a succession mistake. If you make a mistake as a leader on who succeeds you, believe it or not, you will regret it for life because people are not predictable. Also, politics is not mathematics. You can’t say if I put this person there as my successor, my future is guaranteed. No, it doesn’t work that way. A new king will rule in Egypt who does not know Joseph. For every successor, there will be new friends, new caucuses and new ideas will be suggested to derail whatever he meets on ground. Everybody wants to occupy the space which was occupied by some people in the past. They want to remove them and occupy those spaces.

So, in essence you believe President Buhari should quickly make up his mind on who his successor should be now and support such a person?

The position of the president of Nigeria is very close to God. The power, influence, authority, the financial attraction, anything you can imagine is with the president of Nigeria. if the president of Nigeria wants to make you a trillionaire in two days, it will happen. If he wants to impoverish a wealthy man in two weeks, he can also do it. He will put all the policies to kill your business totally. With just one pronouncement from him, your businesses is in ruins. So, the power of the president of Nigeria is too enormous to toy with. I hear some people say the president is like a centurion in the Bible. That is the authority vested in the president of Nigeria and there is nothing anybody can do about it. We have to keep on praying that God will give us somebody who loves us. If a leader loves us, his policies will favour the masses and save the country. He will do the right things despite many tendencies that will try to derail him. As far as I am concerned, let President Buhari pick Asiwaju Tinubu to succeed him in 2023. He will never regret it.

Coming to Lagos state, do you think Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu deserve a second term?

Definitely, he deserves a second term for him to consolidate on what he has been doing. Four years is not enough for him to complete all that he is doing. He has so many projects that are ongoing. Also, change of leadership has affected Lagos state very adversely. There is no continuity on project execution in Lagos state. That is a major problem that needs to be addressed. From Fashola to Ambode, it was a disaster. They were quarreling with each other. Anything that belonged to Fashola was nothing to Ambode and that did not work well for Lagos state. The same thing is happening now. Anything that belongs to Ambode, they are just trying to patch it up and that is not working. So, the current governor needs eight straight years for him to complete ongoing projects. If not, we can be in a big problem with abandoned projects littered everywhere.

https://independent.ng/asking-osinbajo-not-to-contest-in-2023-because-of-tinubu-is-undemocratic-ogunlewe/

very true, Osinbajo can't serve Tinubu for life. But it seems Tinubu's supporters are afraid of Osinbajo

Too much people wanna contest for this 2023 Gen election. We already have like 20 aspirants and still counting..

Guess this is the last last Gen election Nigeria would be having that's why

Pk

I don't really know how people keep choosing failures. Don't you all know it's still the same party...the same party will produce the same thing!

He's even better

Politics is a dirty game, we should vote wisely.
Nigeria is indeed a blessed land, but with good governance, it would be perfect!

Contact me for your academic research writing services.

I hear..

Democracy or no Democracy

The North can never lose out on the simple yet protracted issue of power shift in Nigeria.
Since 1999, they have always been in power in one way or another.

1999 - 2007 Obasanjo/Atiku
2007-2009 Yar'Adua/Goodluck
2009-2015 Goodluck/Sambo
2015-2023 Buhari/Osinbajo

While the South is busy fighting itself out, the North is working on how and whom to align with in the next few years.

Oshibajo will know

If Tinubu is all Yoruba people can produce for the topest position in the land, then it is a shame...
that is the reason they also brought Oshibajo to tell the eligible voters that Yoruba people have another candidate who is we are proud of any day and any time....

Tinubu is trying to patch all his past atrocities so that he can fit in for the APC presidential candidate position. .

but come to think of it... when Buhari want to contest in 2015 for the presidential seat, there were few things they talked against him...because of his intolerance to corruption antecedent...but for Tinubu, we know his atrocities since his early political career, to the days of Late Funso Williams and so on...
.
.we are saying, no way for corrupt politicians in our political space.

Ogunleye wants to be whipped again?

So the battle is now between 2 short men, since the tall man for Aso Rock epp nobody.

Agreed

STAR BOY for the PEOPLE!! STARBOY for the SHOW

Haters are free to go lick bobriski's ass!!

All these backwardness! Tinubu? The old man should go and sit down!
He presented us a failure for 8 years and it is very much enough.
We don't need him. Its all the same clique.

Yemi Osinbajo is the man will know. Tinubu is sickly, we can't afford another president on medical tourism

Osinbago is far better than all the candidates that have initiated interest so far..

Tinubu's declaration for the number one spot shows that these politicians don't rate Nigerians; especially the youths at all..

Somebody who is supposed to be afraid of getting beaten whenever he steps outside to campaign, is now very confident of winning..

Let the thieving BAT win and see how he will make the likes of mclomo and co, executive members..

Rubbish!!!

Ok, Let's look at it this way.

Some cabals encourage or deceive Tinubu a.k.a Jagaban, who you clearly know will only be popular in some parts of the south west, with the aim of ensuring he doesn't emerge as party's flagbearer. However, suppress a more popular candidate in Yemi Osinbajo not to contest, who you know will be more popular and have a stronger chance get vote/support pan-Nigeria.

Grand plan:
At worst, ensure that power remains somewhere around the north, even if it is maintained through a different political party (as the actors can decamp later to that party, as usual), so long as it doesn't go to the south west, (the most likely destination down south, currently).

You can never measure up to the advanced calculations of power mongers.

Osinbajo and his inferiority complex

Slave with his slave master trading banter forgetting their overall slave master has his candidate

Nobody is stopping Osinbajo to contest, he is an elderly man and qualify to be the president of Nigeria, but I assured you that he will never contest against Tinubu. Tinubu early declaration has killed many people aspirator agendas.

Facts, Osinbajo will be consensus candidate of APC when the time comes.

nairavsdollars:
very true, Osinbajo can't serve Tinubu for life. But it seems Tinubu's supporters are afraid of Osinbajo

Okay.

Now think deeply, who is better to revive this Economy that Buhari has killed? A graduate of Accounting major, Certified Public Accountant and Mobil Producing retired Treasurer or a Lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria ?

Tinubu all the way

Vanzcharles:
All these backwardness! Tinubu? The old man should go and sit down!
He presented us a failure for 8 years and it is very much enough.
We don't need him. Its all the same clique.

You called Tinubu backwardness, I believe the most successful person in your family is not as successful as Tinubu driver

No reasonable and truly objective person will choose Tinubu over Osibanjo. .

Another vegetable loading for Nigeria.

Let everyone exercise his/her democratic right,let every Nigerian contest

aremuforlife:

You called Tinubu backwardness, I believe the most successful person in your family is not as successful as Tinubu driver

What is your definition of success?

By stealing the common wealth of millions of people?

Success is relative.

A very tricky one

You can't ask tinubu to step down from what he has been planning for years he may not agree and tinubu been the first and most active to declare means other will be having catch up to do

Osinbajo is a great manager but I don't see him wrestling the ticket from tinubu without tinubu stepping down

LeeSantos:
Too much people wanna contest for this 2023 Gen election. We already have like 20 aspirants and still counting..

Guess this is the last last Gen election Nigeria would be having that's why

.

Okay.

aremuforlife:

You called Tinubu backwardness, I believe the most successful person in your family is not as successful as Tinubu driver

i wonder why you tilumbu urchins never have brain

Is the person family you quoted running for public office

Why are pple supporting the London hospital returnee always sees Osinbajo as a threat? Thought they said they are master planners.It will shock them last last.