'Nigeria 2023' El-Rufai hoping to become Tinubu or Fayemi running mate, group alleges

Olusegun Bamgbose, Esq., National Coordinator, Concerned Advocates for Good Governance, CAGG, has said that Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State is positioning himself to run in 2023 presidential election as Vice President.

According to Bamgbose, El-Rufai may be gearing up to run with either Bola Tinubu or the Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi come 2023.

Appearing on BBC Hausa at the weekend, El-Rufai had said that the South should produce the next president of Nigeria.

According to him, he will not support a Northerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

The Governor also denied he has ambition to contest for presidency in three years.

“In Nigerian politics, there is a system of rotation, in which everyone agrees that if the north rules for eight years, the south will rule for eight years.

“That is why I came out and said that after President Buhari has been in office for eight years, no northerner should run for office. Let the Southerners also have eight years,” El-Rufai said.

And reacting to this in a chat with DAILY POST on Sunday morning, Bamgbose, who had earlier declared interest to run for the presidency, said “The recent statement credited to Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State, BBC Hausa service, that come 2023, a Southerner should emerge as a President, is a very welcome development.

“It should be recalled, that he had earlier this year, made a similar statement to this effect. We commend him for his altruistic and detribalistic tendency.

“This has shown clearly and convincingly, that he is a man that should be reckoned with in the scheme of things. He is indeed a noble man.

“History and posterity will remember him for good. He is truly a man of equity and justice.

“We believe he has spoken the mind of the North, as opposed to what Mamman Daura was credited to have said recently, that zoning should be discarded.

“Governor El Rufai is actually a man of Honour. However, the truth of the matter is that Governor El-Rufai is doing his second tenure, and may not want to go for Senate, most likely he is eyeing the office of the Vice President of Nigeria.

“He is a political tactician and strategist. He is strategically positioning himself ahead of time. Whichever you may look at it, the South is taking note of his statement.

“We appreciate his open support for southern Presidency come 2023. He may likely want to run with Tinubu or Fayemi come 2023. We all will meet on the field come 2023.”