Oshiomhole challenges Tinubu for  APC 2023 presidential ticket

The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, may have begun consolidation of his political arsenal to give the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a good fight for the APC presidential ticket in the 2023 general elections. National Daily learned that Oshiomhole had purportedly been building up to challenge Tinubu for the APC presidential ticket in 2023 through some covert reform in the APC National Working Committee (NWC) to restructure the party leadership under his firm control. The 2023 ambition was also revealed to be part of the reasons Oshiomhole declared political war against Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State to have firm grip of the state and strengthen his bargaining power with APC stakeholders from other parts of the country.

National Daily further learned that even though Tinubu is yet to make official statement on his 2023 presidential ambition, the APC national leader is conceived to have recruited political jobbers to commence mobilization duty ahead of time. The APC national chairman was, therefore, said to have also commenced his networking and contact scheme within the party to confront the APC national leader in the contests for the party’s presidential ticket in 2023.

Thte APC national chairman has been having a running battle with the Edo State governor in a bid to deny him APC ticket for a second tenure in the 2020 governorship election. Oshiomhole was said to be sponsoring a former governorship aspirant who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC to succeed Obaseki at the end of his first tenure. The said candidate contested on the platform of the PDP against Oshiomhole during his second term election.

National Daily also learned that the defected party stakeholder is now a strong loyalist of Oshiomhole and is being anointed as successor to the incumbent governor after his first term in office while the battle of supremacy between Obaseki and Oshiomhole lingers.

The APC national chairman, who was a product of Tinubu in emerging as the party leader, was said to be eating deep into the APC structures and locking up the process towards 2023. He was said to be conscious of events that Tinubu had at different times been identified to be interested in the 2023 presidential race even when he is yet to make official declaration. Tinubu had in Ondo State, at a time there were speculations whether President Muhammadu Buhari would contest for second term in office or not because of his health status then,     said that he would contest for president. He later explained that he meant to contest the presidential election if President Buhari would not contest. He was later silent on the ambition after President Buhari declared to seek re-election in the 2019 general elections.

Several APC stakeholders who spoke to National Daily on the condition of anonymity argued that whether Tinubu makes official statement on his presidential election or not, the record is there that he has presidential ambition. They added that Oshiomhole may also have been doing his calculations well.

Meanwhile, Oshiomhole’s banner signaling his preparations for the 2023 presidential race his policy directions are circulating widely in the social media.

However, no official declaration has been made the chairman on his interest in the 2023 presidential race.