Support Group: Osinbajo’s Declaration Not an Affront on Tinubu

A support group, The Osinbajo Think Tank, has dismissed some of the insinuations trailing the presidential aspiration of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, saying his Monday declaration was not an affront on his leader and presidential hopeful, Bola Tinubu.

Spokesman of the group, Olugbenga Olaoye, who said this yesterday while fielding questions on the Arise Television, in Lagos State, however, applauded Osinbajo’s declaration to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, describing him as the preferred presidential candidate under the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Olaoye said Osinbajo’s cognitive experience in the corridor of power for seven years, coupled with his unbeatable CV, were part of the needed criteria to deliver better democratic projects for Nigeria and Nigerians.

On if Osinbajo’s decision to contest would not be seen as a betrayal to Tinubu, Olaoye said Osinbajo’s interest in the presidency was not in any way an affront.

“The Osinbajo Think Tank group believes that the declaration of the vice president to have a shot at 2023 presidency, does not translate to betrayal or affront, rather it has opened the political space, where true Patriots, like him would likely align with and vote for him in the 2023 presidential election regardless of any party affiliations,” he said.

He maintained that before Osinbajo’s declaration, Nigerians had seen the signs that he was likely to be the one to continue from wherever Buhari stops.

According to him, “Osinbajo’s declaration is a bid to continue, where the present administration has stopped. He is intellectually sound, and I am certain, he will right every wrong when he gets there. He has thorough understanding of national issues vis-a-vis complexity, endowed abilities and the right temperaments to equitable, just and peaceful solution,” Olaoye said.

Describing Osinbajo as the man whom the cap fits at this time in the history of the Nation, and that he had a mandate to take Nigeria to the promised land, in an atmosphere of peace, happiness, safety and plenty, Olaoye concluded that, “this puts PYO ahead of all aspirants from and geopolitical zones of Nigeria, including Southwest”.

He maintained that, with Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s interest in the 2023 Presidency, Southwest has brighter chances to produce the next president.

“Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as at today, survey shows the most preferred candidate among all those who have declared interest in the Presidency. His, is the only declaration that has brought out an ecstatic excitement amongst the people. It is glaring that the nation is getting ready for a breakthrough.

“PYO is a formidable member of the All Progressives Congress(APC). Nigeria at this time needs someone, who is intellectually capable, articulate and able to inspire Nigerians. He has proven to be an embodiment of loyalty and through his various roles in different national and international engagements, Osinbajo, no doubt is a round peg in a round hole,” Olaoye said.

Olaoye, an Oil and Gas magnate, who also maintained that Osinbajo has enjoyed support from over four hundred groups across the nation, even before his declaration, insisted that the vice-president’s declaration was in view of moving the nation forward.

“From an independent analysis, I can categorically say that Osinbajo has been the preferred candidate within the rank and file of the ruling APC,” he said, and therefore appealed to party leaders, not to win the battle and lose the war, by ensuring the APC fields a generally acceptable candidate like Osinbajo in the presidential election.

He insisted that Osinbajo’s distinctive competence, nationwide popularity, intellectual capability, which nobody could doubt stood him out and made it difficult for Tinubu and other aspirants to beat.