A former governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Prince Tonye Princewill, has congratulated Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his emergence as the presidential flagbearer of the party ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
Tinubu had won the APC presidential ticket after he polled half of the total votes by delegates at the just concluded primaries of the party, which was held at Eagles Square Abuja, on Wednesday.
Reacting to Tinubu’s emergence in a statement after the convention, Princewill described the emergence of Tinubu as a political lesson for the South-South, South East, and the Middle Belt.
Princewill, a close ally of former Minister of Transportation and APC Presidential aspirant, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi said the latter would have been a better choice for the APC.
According to him, “The delegates have spoken and they went for age, political history, and the leader himself to lead the party in the next general election.
“Asiwaju was not my first choice, but I believe that when you subscribe to a process, you must also subscribe to its outcome. He won the election free and fair and took us to school with a full lecture on political party primaries 101.1.
“I for one diligently took notes. So now, we will see two professors of Nigerian politics going up against one another. Two people cut from the same PDM cloth, two allies, now opponents, will square off, while the rest of us will be asked to choose a side.
“The South-South, South East, and the Middle Belt have been taught a good lesson, so a dark horse or better still a light-complexioned horse, like Peter Obi provides an alternative, mainly in the South, while Kwankwaso of Kano provides an alternative in the North.
“The constituency I belong to wants a different kind of country with a clear separation from the past and it was my view that Rotimi Amaechi could have been the one to provide it. The delegates in their number, however, disagreed with me.
“What I can say is Asiwaju and Atiku are no pushovers, are both very very cerebral and know what it takes to turn a country’s fortunes around. I’m a student of their politics and a fan of their stubbornness. They handed me over to Amaechi in 2007 and then promptly denied it later. My very first lesson in media damage control.
“So it should be no surprise, that I will wait for what Amaechi says before I take a position. 2023 is too important to be observing it slowly approaching from a distance. Politics, as we know, is far too important to be just left to our politicians, likewise, Presidential campaigns are far too important to be left to the Presidential candidates.
“In closing, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate both Atiku and Asiwaju, without forgetting Peter Obi. May the best Dad win.”
