A former Minister of Transportation, and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has said he cannot support the presidential aspiration of Ahmed Bola Tinubu come 2023.
Babatope who spoke to newsmen at his Lagos residence said although he is a Yoruba man, he will rather support Igbos or Fulanis for the presidency than back Tinubu as they don’t belong to the same political party.
According to the former Minister, “To me, supporting Tinubu for presidency in 2023 is mere waste of time. I am not a member of APC , so why should I support him? I am a fanatical member of PDP while Tinubu belongs to APC and so, he has every right to canvass for presidency under his party.
“If I say I want to go and support Tinubu for presidency on what basis? He is a Yoruba man like myself but we don’t belong to the same party. There are Igbos, Fulanis and others who belong to my party and who may have interest in the presidency. If they indicate interest in contesting for the presidency, I must give consideration to their feelings.
“Supporting them will be better than for me to say I am supporting Tinubu because he is a Yoruba man. No, I won’t support him because that will not be fair”.
Babatope also said even though he strongly believes that the South-East geopolitical zone deserves the presidency, any action taken by the PDP leadership to return the power in 2023 is welcomed by him.
He said, “If by throwing the presidential ticket open, the party wants to look for justice and fairplay, that’s fair enough. The reality is that the Igbos have not had a fair share of the presidency since 1999.
“I would have supported the Igbos but again, we have been locked out of power and I want the PDP back in power. Also, many Nigerians want PDP back in power because they believe that they will do better than the APC”.
