April 15, (THEWILL) – If Prof Yemi Osinabjo (PYO) wins the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election, “he can’t become the next president without a pact with Bola Tinubu”, Akintunde Festus Adeyemo, a US-based legal consultant, has said.
THEWILL had reported that Vice-president Osinbajo on Monday, declared his ambition to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023, as president elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Tinubu, widely believed to be Osinbajo’s political godfather, had earlier declared, what he termed a “life ambition”, to succeed President Buhari in 2023.
The declaration, has pitched the Vice-President against the godfather of Lagos politics, for the presidential ticket of the APC.
Although, with about 13 months left to the end of the administration of President Buhari, several prominent politicians in the APC have expressed the desire to succeed him in 2023.
The likes of Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation; Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi; a former Abia governor and Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, among several others in the party, are expected to struggle the Presidential ticket of the APC, with Osinbajo and Tinubu at the party’s primary.
However, according to Adeyemo, “Osinbajo needs Tinubu more than Tinubu needs the Vice-President.”
“The greatest (long-term) threat to PYO’s ambition is Tinubu. The greatest (short-term) threat to Tinubu’s ambition is PYO. Even if PYO wins the primary election, he can’t become the next president without a pact with Tinubu,” Adeyemo said via a Facebook post.
“However, if Tinubu wins the primary, his path to the presidency narrows. And PYO will return to Ikenne.
“PYO has the blessing of some power brokers in the party, but I am not sure that he has breached the Tinubu camp, so that is a big problem. Even if they use the consensus option to get him (PYO) there, he will still have a Tinubu problem.
“There are multiple paths to get Tinubu to the presidency (the structure and resources are there), but there is only a guaranteed pathway to get PYO to the presidency (APC).
“If Tinubu wants to create a real problem for PYO (assuming Tinubu loses), he can factionalise the party, re-align with some other parties, then move his structure and resources there. I don’t know how far.
“Tinubu is willing to go, but PYO and his handlers do not know Tinubu’s appetite to actualise his ambition. And that is the conundrum.
“Here is the simple truth: PYO needs Tinubu more than Tinubu needs PYO, but it is a race against time”, said Adeyemo.
