Dr. Nicholas Felix, a previous APC presidential candidate, has expressed concern that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s flag bearer, has excluded him from his campaign in advance of the general election in 2023.
Three weeks after the convention held in Eagle Square in Abuja, the youngest APC candidate made a shocking statement.
Following his resignation during the June 7 presidential primary, Felix had thrown his support behind Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Felix declared Osinbajo to be the “best guy for the job” before to withdrawing from the presidential campaign and said he was confident in his ability to turn the country around.
To his surprise, Tinubu won the election by defeating Osinbajo, Rotimi Amaechi, the former minister of transportation, Ahmad Lawan, and 11 other contenders to secure the party’s sole presidential ticket.
“Asiwaju has not reached out to me. Neither has any member of his campaign team. No one has called me. I am about the only candidate Asiwaju has yet to meet. I don’t know the reason. Maybe it was because I stepped down for the vice president or didn’t support the idea of a possible Muslim-Muslim ticket,” he added.
On Monday, the APC’s presidential flag bearer left the nation for France.
After a morning meeting behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja with the President Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu left the country shortly after.
Although Tinubu’s spokesperson, Tunde Rahman, did not specify how long the former governor of Lagos State would be gone, there were hints that his trip must be connected to the selection process for his running mate.
When contacted, the spokesman of Bola Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, “Unfortunately, we all know Asiwaju is not in town. But Nigerians are aware of how he visited all the aspirants after the primary. Perhaps (he) was not in town. Maybe he was in America or somewhere. I don’t want to join issues with him.
“If Asiwaju has not reached out to him as he said, I am sure by the time he returns from France, he will cover up whatever gaps exist. I don’t want us to get dragged into that. It is possible that it is even an oversight. As a politician, he doesn’t neglect anybody or sees people as not being important. I am sure it wasn’t a deliberate act or hidden agenda on his part. Everybody is important to him.”
