The Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has revealed that the southern part of Nigeria is awaiting the arrival of the former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to take critical decisions ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
Akeredolu, who is also the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum described the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as a ‘Capo’.
Tinubu has, for a while, been in London for reported medical reasons.
The former Lagos State Governor is rumoured to have undergone a series of surgery on his knee.
There were claims that Tinubu allegedly underwent another knee surgery at the John Hopkins University Hospital in Maryland, the United States.
It was gathered that the former Lagos State Governor returned to the United Kingdom on crutches after undergoing the successful surgery.
Tinubu, who celebrated his 69th birthday in March 2021 and command an arguably large following of political loyalists, has been rumoured to nurse presidential ambition in 2023.
But Akeredolu described Tinubu as a leader in the southern region of the country, said he was awaiting the arrival of the APC leader in order to take critical decisions ahead of 2023.
Akeredolu stated this during an interview on Arise Television on Sunday.
While stressing that his recent visit to the former Lagos State Governor in London had nothing to do with the 2023 election.
On whether he will support Tinubu as Presidential Candidate of APC in 2023, Governor Akeredolu said only the party where he is a member will decide that.
“APC is a party. APC will decide who the candidate will be. I have said it several times. I’m going nowhere. If I leave APC, I am going back to my chamber. For me, whatever APC decides, I will follow.
“We went to London because It was important for us to go and see for ourselves. How he’s doing. He’s the Capo for us here. By the time he comes, we can make some serious decisions.”
Media had earlier reported that Governor Akeredolu had said that the southerners won’t support any political party that picks a northern presidential candidate in the 2023 election.
In two separate meetings, the Southern Governors’ Forum has resolved that the 2023 presidency must be zoned to the region.
Speaking on the resolution, Akeredolu said the forum has unanimously agreed that the 2023 presidency must be zoned to the region for the sake of justice and fairness.
The Ondo governor said after President Muhammadu Buhari, who is a northerner, completes his tenure in 2023, the next president should come from the south.
He said the argument that competence should be used as a criterion for electing the 2023 president cannot override zoning, stressing that competent people are both in the northern and southern regions of the country.