Bola Tinubu, the APC flagbearer in the 2023 general election, has said he is still in search of a running mate.
He said this on Sunday, June 26 while speaking at a book launch to celebrate the 60th birthday party of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Tinubu said,
“As a Minority Leader, he consulted wide and he’s always there to see the thinking of opposition that we must bring a revolution to the House to be able to beat the PDP. And then, he will brainstorm for any length of time about political strategy.
When he was challenged for the position of the speaker, I think after our merger he worked with me tirelessly. Femi is a workaholic. The problem of failure stared him in the face. He lost the election to become the Speaker.
I was close to tears. Stamping my foot to the ground I said ‘we will win again. Femi keeps up. Pick yourself up.’ I am very proud of you that you did, you didn’t give up. You did the opposition and the support job. You demonstrated what we learned from textbooks and other authors.
That life is not about the education of one section of society. Remember what we discussed about paying the WAEC fee of omo iya oniboli (the Son of the Woman who roasts plantain), and my Mum was alive then, asking me to see to it each time I gave her money, it doesn’t last.
And I said whatever you do with the money I don’t know. Mama will say no, those women there are Mothers, they want to pay WAEC fees. And Femi was one of the first set of people I consulted. Are we going to say that the children of the poor are not deserve of becoming Governors, Doctors, and Engineers? I said I was afraid. He said to do it. So that is how a junior brother can inspire a senior leader.
Femi with your determination, and grit, you are a contributor to our democratic growth, thank you. You have character. You are a great mentor and you are doing a good job charting a path to success. You’ve done a good job and I say thank you, thank you.
What you did during my primary is a story for another day. I’ve spent more time, too many times and people might be bored, they might be envious too, they might be jealous. I won a landslide, I thank you.
I could see his deputy (Wase) sitting down there too, you are a very good symbol of unity, dependability, and honesty, thank you. Thank you for both of you. You’ve not rocked the boat. I will need to learn from both of you, how you made the pair work because I’m still searching for my running mate.”
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