National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, addressed issues concerning preparations for the 2023 presidential election.
Mr Tinubu made the disclosure on the issues public while briefing journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
On 2023, Tinubu speaks, “Anybody talking about that now is just completely restless and not focused on the agenda of nation-building and development of our country,” Mr Tinubu said when asked for his reaction on the matter.
“That time is not now. We have just finished one election and Mr President is busy sorting out the budget, working for the people of this country. Of course, the restlessness of politics is going to be there, but any lover of this country will not talk about the succession plan yet. That’s the truth. Concentrate on working for the country, help the president to help the country. There’s nothing more than that.
“We cannot use 365 days in a year and 360° to work on politics, it’s not possible. Anybody talking about that now is just completely restless and not focused on the agenda of nation-building and development of our country.”
The former Lagos State governor, who is believed to eyeing the presidency in 2023 also spoke on President Buhari’s pledge not to continue in office beyond 2023.
Speaking on Buhari’s third term agenda, he said, “Any reasonable politician who had worked with President Muhammadu Buhari will know that he will not (tamper with the Constitution). Distractors are always suspicious and will make accusations, but I was in the trench, in the struggle for democracy.
“I was in the trench and in the opposition with Muhammadu Buhari, till the Third Term agenda of a former leader of this country failed. I know he will never. He has the courage and the character to refuse such a temptation even if offered to him. I believe in him and I believe Nigerians should also believe in him.
“He doesn’t need to say it to me, I’ll argue it in the corner and everywhere they bring such a thing up. However, it’s very good to hear it from him. I say congratulations to a man of character and integrity. The challenge of turning the ship of this nation around is a continuum and a continuous effort and that is what we should get ourselves concerned with.
“Yes, politics is intoxicating, it’s flamboyant, it’s interesting, but we cannot continue in perpetuity one after the other. We have to relax, show concern for the people of the country and see to the efforts of the president that will manifest in the new, united and prosperous country. We are still not there.