A frontline presidential hopeful on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, has promised to replicate all the developmental strides he made in Lagos while he was the governor of the state in Nigeria, if elected the president in the 2023 general elections.
Tinubu, who is the National Leader of the APC, made the pledge in Benin City on Saturday evening at the Oba of Benin’s palace when he paid the Benin monarch homage as part of his consultation visit to party delegates in Edo State ahead of the presidential primary of the party later this month.
The APC presidential hopeful, who said he was at the palace to seek the Oba’s endorsement and prayers for his presidential ambition, said Lagos State was in bad shape when he became governor of the state, but he turned around the fortunes of the state and made it a mega city before he left.
“Your Royal Majesty, I am here this evening to seek your endorsement; I am here this evening to seek your prayers and blessings because I know what your endorsement means, I know what your prayers means. Your Royal Majesty, I want to be president of this country and I am not joking.
“Your Royal Majesty, I am very competent when it comes to competence. My experience in various leadership capacity gives me an edge.
“Your Royal Majesty, when I became governor of Lagos State, the state was nothing to write home about, but as of today, Lagos is a mega city. When I became governor of the state, Lagos was generating internally N600m monthly, but as of today, Lagos is proud of generating N50bn monthly. These are all the things I put in place to make Lagos great”, Tinubu boasted.
While noting that he worked very hard and supported President Muhammadu Buhari to become president of Nigeria in 2015, Tinubu solicited for all and sundry support for his ambition.
In his response, the Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, said the Benin throne is non-partisan, but just interested in good leadership for the country and prays for such.
“We are praying for you. And if you are eventually given the ticket and become president of the country, do the things that will make you sit at the right hand of God. And do not forget those that prayed for you.”
Tinubu later left the Oba’s Palace at about 7.02pm to meet with the APC delegates at a hotel in Benin City.