Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has said that the concerns being raised by some Nigerians over the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress are to cause division among Nigerians.
Defending and justifying the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the APC on Thursday at the 96th Anniversary Lecture of the Yoruba Tennis Club, Sanwo-Olu noted that electing the next president of Nigeria should be about leadership, character, audacity to think and the ability to think deeply and solve problems.
“We had forgotten that in 2011 when Action Congress at that time gave a platform to Malam Nuhu Ribadu and his vice presidential candidate then was Mr Fola Adeola. It was a joint Muslim-Muslim ticket, and we did not see any problem at that time.
“But suddenly, because there is a likelihood of this ticket emerging as a winner, people now want to divide us. We will say no because that is not who we are,” Sanwo-Olu pointed out.
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“It is about character. It is about audacity to think. It is about the ability to be able to think deep and solve problems. We do not want to despair other candidates. We all know too well what their antecedents are. We all know too what their credentials are. But we know that as a nation, we need a strong launch pad,” the Lagos governor further stated.
“We need to think out of the box and be able to put our best foot forward,” he added.
The governor also said that Lagos State deserves to produce Nigeria’s next president in 2023 as he expressed strong belief about the former governor of the state, Bola Tinubu, emerging victorious at the polls.
“We deserve the presidency. In Lagos, we deserve it. Lagos requires it, and it would be by the grace of God a bigger, better and stronger nation and state that all of you would be truly proud of to have been part of,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu commended the leadership of the Yoruba Tennis Club for inviting the APC vice presidential candidate Mr Kashim Shettima as the guest speaker.
“We are celebrating 96 years now, and let it be on record that by 2026 during our centenary celebration, by the grace of God, we will have Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu coming here to celebrate as president on our centenary.
“By your grace and your support, I will still remain as your 15th governor, coming here and celebrating in four years’ time, and all of you will be here,” Sanwo-Olu stated.
Both Tinubu and Shettima who are running as APC presidential and vice presidential candidates respectively are Muslims, a situation which has caused disagreement in some quarters including within the APC.
