The national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been called upon to adopt Bola Ahmed Tinubu as its consensus presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections.
The group made the call during the opening of a two-day roundtable discussion organised by the Tinubu Grassroots Support Coalition in collaboration with the APC Core Supporters Network in Abuja.
Speaking on the theme of the event which is: ‘Strategic approach in achieving consensus building in Nigeria Presidential election: Tinubu the hope of the masses’, the guest speaker, Professor Yaki Katuka of the Niger State University, Lapai, stressed that a consensus is a necessary tool in resolving conflicts which are bound to arise during political contests.
He insisted that ‘despite the way things are in Nigeria today we still believe we have very credible people that can salvage this country. But it is not going to be an easy journey because in politics there must be conflict.
“In fact, the beauty of politics is conflict. That is why the concept of consensus building is mostly used in conflict management because it is a veritable approach to resolving multi-party differences.
“There must be consensus building because Tinubu cannot be there without our consensus agreement. The issue here is why must we be strategic.
“We need to be strategic in our plans to achieve desired results and the only way Tinubu can get that ticket will be the application of a strategic approach. Here we are developing strategies on how to market Tinubu.
“We are aware that when Tinubu was a Governor of Lagos State, his monthly subventions were seized by the Federal Government but Tinubu said they should take it because Lagos can survive without it.
“Many states cannot survive without subventions. But in the case of Tinubu, he was able to manage his state without subventions.
“He was able to generate revenue. Most people believe that when Tinubu comes he will use that same approach to solve the endemic financial crises bedevilling the country.’
On his part, the spokesman of the coalition, John Ali, said the roundtable discussion was meant to sensitise its members, spread across the 19 states in the North on the need to build consensus to ensure that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerges the presidential candidate of the APC in 2023.
“The aims and objectives of this programme are to sensitise members of the organisation and the general public on the strategies of consensus-building,” Ali said.
“As grassroots mobilisers, we want to educate our members who are drawn from all states in the North so that they can take the message home on the need for consensus-building and the quality leadership of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is one of the front runners of the 2023 presidential elections.
“We are very hopeful that everything will come in favour of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Apart from that, we are ready to go into the primaries because of the mobilisation we have done, we know we are everywhere. We are hopeful we are going to win even if they say come to the polls.’
(Daily Sun)
