Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has reportedly notified President Muhammadu Buhari of his intention to vie for the nation’s number one seat in 2023, according to a report monitored in the Daily Trust newspaper
This development, according to the newspaper, was from credible sources in a report published on Monday.
It quoted the sources as saying that the VP told the President of his desire to take over from him at the expiration of his tenure in 2023 to consolidate the achievements they have recorded.
“Certainly, VP Osinbajo has told the president that he wants to succeed him,” Daily Trust quoted one of its sources as having said
The source added: “The vice president had first consulted some prominent Nigerians who encouraged him to vie for the presidency and they also encouraged him to tell the president himself.
“They told him not to allow a third party to tell the president so that the ambition will not be misconstrued.”
Another source said when Osinbajo approached the President with the story, Buhari was not surprised.
The source informed the newspaper further that: “Buhari smiled in his usual characteristic manner…he listened to the VP carefully and while responding, he gave him the green light and wished him well without giving him any commitment or assurance of supporting him ahead of other contenders.
“He blessed the intention just the way he blessed Tinubu when he visited him in the Villa and unveiled his plan to vie for the presidency.
“And I think the president is being careful. Remember what he said while granting an interview to a national television.”
With this development, the Vice President, Osinbajo, has no doubt set up a presidential race clash with the National Laeader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, ahead of the 2023 election.
