By Yemi Itodo
The National leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was on Tuesday called upon to make Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as its consensus presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections.
The group made the call during the opening of a two-day roundtable discussion organized by the Tinubu Grassroots Support Coalition in collaboration with APC Core Supporters Network, in Abuja.
Speaking on the theme of the event which is: Strategic approach in achieving consensus building in Nigeria Presidential election: Tinubu the hope of the masses”, the Guest Speaker, Professor Yaki Katuka of the Niger State University, Lapai, stressed that consensus is a necessary tool in resolving conflicts which are bound to arise during political contests.
He insisted that “despite the way things are in Nigeria today we still believe we have have very credible people that can salvage this country.
“But it is not going to be an easy journey because in politics there must be conflict.
“In fact the beauty of politics is conflict. That is why the concept of consensus building is mostly used in conflict management because it is a veritable approach in resolving multi party differences.
“There must be consensus building because Tinubu cannot be there without our consensus agreement. The issue here is that why must we be strategic.
“We need to be strategic in our plans to achieve desired results and the only way Tinubu can get that ticket will be the application of strategic approach. Here we are developing strategies on how to market Tinubu.
“We are aware that when Tinubu was a Governor of Lagos State, his monthly subventions were seized by the Federal Government but Tinubu said they should take it because Lagos can survive without it.
“Many states cannot survive without subventions. But in the case of Tinubu, he was able to manage his state without subventions.
“He was able to generate revenue. Most people believe that when Tinubu comes he will use that same approach to solve the endemic financial crises bedeviling the country.”
On his part, the Public Relations Officer of the Coalition, John Ali, said the roundtable discussion was meant to sensitise its members, spread across the 19 states in the North on the need to build concensus to ensure that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerges the presidential candidate of the APC in 2023.
Ali said: “The aims and objectives of this programme is to sensitise members of the organization and the general public on the strategies of consensus building.
“As grassroots mobilisers, we want to educate our members who are drawn from all states in the North so that they can take the message home on the need for consensus building and the quality leadership of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is one of the front runners of the 2023 presidential elections.
“We are very hopeful that everything will come in favour of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Apart from that we are ready to go into the primaries because of the mobilization we have done, we know we are everywhere. We are hopeful we are going to win even if they say come to the polls.”
