- Former presidential aide Doyin Okupe has spoken on the ability of prominent APC chieftain Tinubu to rule Nigeria
- Okupe who was a senior presidential aide during the Jonathan administration said Tinubu will be a good president
- The physician turned politician, however, said he does not know if the APC leader will get the chance to emerge the president
Lagos, Nigeria – Dr Doyin Okupe, a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, has said Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), will perform well if he emerges Nigeria’s president in 2023.
Appearing as a guest on Arise News TV on Friday, August 13, Okupe said Tinubu, a former Lagos state governor, will be a good president.
Asked those he will consider if he were to do a shortlist of competent politicians capable of ruling the nation, the physician turned politician said:
“Bola Tinubu, to me, will be a good president. I believe so. I have had personal relationships with him.
“One day I sat with Bola Tinubu so many years ago and it was a Saturday and there was nobody there for about four hours and we spoke.
“From that day, I have respected the man. He has his own problems, he has his own faults but I believe that if he has the chance he can do well. I believe so.
“Whether he will have the chance or not, I do not know.”
The next president of Nigeria must be a southerner
Meanwhile, Okupe said the next president of Nigeria should come from the southern region, arguing that it will be wrong for the north to produce President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023.
Okupe listed himself, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi, as qualified southerners that can emerge as the nation’s president in 2023.
APC and PDP are the same
Meanwhile, Okupe also said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are the same.
The Ogun state-born politician said there’s not much separating the two Nigerian political parties as up to 70 per cent of people who control power in the APC today were all members of the PDP.
Okupe mentioned the present and former governors of Ogun state as members who have held sway in the PDP but now find themselves as leaders in the APC.
