APC primary: How Tinubu clinched presidential ticket

By Tom Okpe, Abuja

Former Governor of Lagos State and National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a landslide victory, defeated Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Asiwaju Senate President Ahmed Lawan and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Ameachi, among others, to emerge presidential candidate of the ruling party in the forthcoming general election in the country.

Tinubu won the ticket with 1,271 votes out of 2,203 accredited votes. While Ameachi came second in the party primary election held at the Eagle Square on Tuesday
and Wednesday, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and Senator Lawan came third and fourth respectively.

How they fared: Ahmed BolaTinubu scored 1271, former Governor of River State and immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, scored 316 votes; Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, 235 votes, Senate President, Ahmed Lawal scored 152 votes; Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State scored 47 while David Umahi, Governor of Ebonyi State got 38 votes.

Others are Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State who scored 37 votes, Senator Ahmed Rufai Sanni got 4 votes, former Minister of Science and Technology got 1 vote while former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, Tunde Bakare, Ikoabasi Mokelu and JackRich got O vote respectively with 9 void votes.

Eight aspirants had earlier with-drawn from the race for Bola Tinubu, leaving the contest between 13 aspirants without Nwajiuba who didn’t show up, DailyTimes gathered.

Aspirants that withdrew for Asiwaju includes former Governor of Akwa-Ibom State and immediate Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio who also donated his State delegates.

Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar
Badaru, Nicholas Felix, Mrs Uju Ohanenye, Senator Ajai Borofice and Dimeji Bankole all stepped down, donating the state delegates to the Asiwaju.

All delegates from the South West, South East North Central and majority of delegates from the core north, cast their vote for the former Lagos State Governor, giving more than half of the total vote got.

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Bagudu, Chairman of the Progressives’ Governors’ Forum and Governor of Kebbi State also, Chairman of the election Committee declared Tinubu winner of the excercise on behalf of the party election Committee, commending party leaders for the confidence reposed on them.

“Asiwaju having scored the highest vote in the party Primary election, conducted between Tuesday and Wednesday at the Eagle Square in Abuja, I, Governor Atiku Abubakar Bagudu, Chairman, APC Primary Election Committee Chairman with the powers conferred on me, by our party constitution, I hereby declare Ahmed Bola Tinubu the APC flag bearer of our party in the 2023 election.”

In his acceptance speech, the newly elected presidential candidate, Tinubu said Ahmad Lawan, Senate President and one of the defeated aspirant in the just concluded contest should “leak his wounds.”

He also said he was taking his pound of flesh from President Muhammadu Buhari, keeping him long at the Eagle Square, Abuja venue of the convention as the president had also kept him waiting, sometimes.

The former Lagos state governor declared that the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) cannot come back to power any time soon.

He said: “Today is another historic day and it is thanks to God Almighty that you are living healthy to witness it, to be part of it, to be your calling, to be your arrangement.

“We all, not only as a party, it has gone beyond partisan idea now. It is yours as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. You put it together and you have even gracious and humble beginning. We are very grateful to you.

“The vice president, a very good and supportive pillar, a good assistant to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, we thank you for this steady and good support to our President.

“To you, the legislature, Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, I would have been a little upset because you competed with me but that is over now since you can easily leak your wounds.

“It doesn’t take away from thanking you from the past cooperation and cool-headedness to build our country. You have helped in steering the ship of the nation and with your colleagues in the Senate, history is written and will be kind to you.

“And to my brother, Hakeem Gbajabiamila, the sparkling speaker, I credit you. The
Gbajabiamilas of Lagos have been part of the history of this country and you will not be forgotten.

“Our party is alive. They won’t be able to do the convention but here we are, the first
convention to choose the Executive, the Governors pulled themselves together, we did break our backs and we are here, very happy and confident and courageous to tell you that the cat that lies down quietly is not a pretension of death but breeding of its energy to devour its enemies.

“Now, we are here, we will roar. We will do it. We will tell Poverty Development Party, they call themselves PDP, 16 years of failures, wastefulness, we stepped aside, buried and leave the way for us. We will repair our country. We are Progressives, we are nation builders.

We are not destroyers. We are confident that this nation is back in track,” he said.

On the rising killings and insecurity in the country, Tinubu said: “We are not the barbaric, blind human beings they think we are. They are setting us against one another.

When you were born, you didn’t hear from the womb whether you would be a male or female, Christian or Muslim.

You were born to your parents and adopted their religions and you continued.

“The Bible taught us to love your neighbour as you love yourself. It did not say kill your neighbour.

It is in the two holy books. Goodness for goodness. Learn to accept mistakes, not
from gunshots or the destruction of lives and property because the life you take you cannot bring back, the hate you spill cannot cure your hunger. We must build a new society and learn to think a new way of life.”

He commended his fellow aspirants for the stiff and strong opposition they offered which he said made the party better and himself, humble lauding all the seven aspirants who stepped down for him saying it was a very difficult decision that they made.

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“The competition is now over. Those who did not support me, you have nothing to fear. I hold no grudges.

“Even the obstacles on my way, I predict them before those that will bring them will start to think about them. I plan for betrayal, I plan for backstabbing, I also plan for reunion, forgiveness long before they happen. I expect nothing, I expect anything, I expect everything.

“Let us join hands to beat the PDP and beat back their retrogressive understanding of Nigeria.

They had 16 years, they depleted our resources and left us with hunger. Let us dig their graves by defeating them in the next election because they are the agents of poverty, terror, violence and lying,” he stated.

While apologising to President Muhammadu Buhari for keeping him waiting for too long, Tinubu said; “I didn’t expect to win, but I won and I must be intoxicated by the victory.

What else can I do,” he queried.

President Muhamadu Buhari, assisted by Abdullahi Adamu, the party’s national chairman and some governors presented the party flag to Tinubu to fly and bring the party to victory in 2023.