Reports Sunday night indicate that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo SAN will declare his intention to join the 2023 presidential race Monday.
One his foot soldiers told Newsdiaryonline that he had worked himself out amid the campaign issues. Another close associate told this newspaper he was monitoring events in the midst of indication that the VP would declare his intention Monday.
Whether Osinbajo declares Monday or another day later, one fact has emerged very clearly: that there is a huge level of optimism in the Osinbajo camp.
Newsdiaryonline has been monitoring the intrigues over the race to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari since 2019.
Osinbajo’s confidence may be an indication that he has gotten the greenlight from his boss. Nobody was ready to confirm this Sunday night, but one of the VP’s associates simply said “I think so.”
An influential northerner had told Newsdiaryonline that it would be a wise decision if Buhari chose to endorse Osinbajo.”I will support Osinbajo,” he quipped recently.
But Osinbajo’s chances didn’t seem very clear from the beginning. There were strong hints that some forces in the Presidency had sympathy for former President Goodluck Jonathan.
If Osinbajo declares, it certainly must have be with the say-so of President Buhari and maybe an indication of a shift in the president’s thinking. It was not clear what may have informed his apparent endorsement of Osinbajo.
Many had thought Buhari would also possibly back Ahmed Tinubu, Rotimi Amaechi, Godwin Emefiele, and or possibly Ekiti State, Governor Kayode Fayemi.Amaechi declared his intention to run on Saturday.
Osinbajo’s confidence level indicates that the odds favour him to clinch the party’s ticket.
Newsdiaryonline has also learnt that some PDP presidential aspirants were hoping that Buhari would not support Osinbajo. “We are are hoping that we do not have to campaign against Osinbajo because we feel he will be more difficult to defeat,” an aide to a PDP presidential aspirant revealed recently.
Whether Osinbajo will eventually get the President’s open support remains to be seen.There are however signs of “hope rising” in the VP’s camp.
