2023: The intrigues and plans to stop Osinbajo
By Isa Adamu
With a little more than two weeks to the Special Convention of APC which holds on May 30th, it is becoming clearer and clearer that some of the presidential aspirants in the party only got into the race, not to win the nomination, but to stop Yemi Osinbajo by all means and make a way for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The mastermind of this scheme is Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself. Asiwaju is so desperate to clinch the party’s ticket that he is doing everything under the sun to stop the VP’s soaring acceptability across the nation. He believes that Prof Osinbajo is the only one standing between him and the nomination.
First, Tinubu and his supporters spent weeks spreading malicious and false stories about the Vice President soon after his declaration on Monday, April 11. When that didn’t deter the VP or erode his brand as the man to beat, the former Lagos governor devised a new scheme in which he sponsored 10 people, including two ministers, to jump into the presidential race on condition that they would step down for him a day or two before the Convention. The idea is that when the 10 ‘aspirants’ announce that they’re stepping down for Tinubu, the announcement may create a momentum for him and that could motivate delegates to support him.
The 10 sponsored aspirants are:
1. Senator Godswill Akpabio
2. Senator Rochas Okorocha
3. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole
4. Prof. Ben Ayade
5. Prof Emeka Nwajiuba
6. Senator Ken Nnamani
7. Ahmed Sani Yerima
8. Mrs. Uju Ohneye
9. Ajayi Borifice
10. Dimeji Bankole
You may have noticed that these 10 ‘shadow’ aspirants have not even gone around the country to meet and consult the delegates as the serious aspirants do. Osinbajo himself has visited over 20 states in the last four weeks, meeting with governors, traditional rules, party members and, of course, the delegates. Where has Oshiomhole or Ahmed Yerima been to? Have you seen Okorocha or Ken Nnamani consult anybody?
Nigerians, be wise!
