A pro-democracy organization, the Congress of Progressive Youth, CPY, has said that the fate of all intending presidential aspirants for the 2023 election can only be decided by Nigerians, adding that it is even beyond any of them so chosen to reject the people’s decision!
Speaking on behalf of the group in Lagos on Sunday, its National Coordinator, Comrade Adebayo Oyenekan, disclosed that “we are studying and scrutinising those who have the capacity to take over the baton of leadership from President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, informing that “our dragnet extends beyond any particular political party.”
Asked whether he has the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, in mind, Oyenekan said, “We are not aware of his presidential ambition, because he has not told anybody he wants to be President.
“Whether he declares for President or not, if he fits our criteria, we will push him out to contest!”
Oyenekan insisted that the case on ground now is that, whether Fashola or any other aspirants satisfies our criteria, it would be beyond such an aspirant to say no in 2023, because we have all the democratically allowed powers to draft him or her out to serve us, stressing the need to “use our hands to obtain what is good for the generality of the people of Nigeria.”
Oyenekan reminded that democracy is the government of the people for the people and by the people; declaring that, if the good people of this country decide on anybody to come out and serve them, such a person would not have any option than to obey, as declining such an offer would not exist in the people’s political and democratic lexicon.
He therefore urged all competent hands that can handle the affairs of this country well to better brace up as the people can knock on their doors at the appropriate time to commandeer them for service, asserting that “even if such materials hide under their wives’ beds, they would be fished out!”
The group leader however admitted that someone like Fashola could have an edge, because of his visibility through being a former governor of the most populous state in Nigeria and his performance in the development of infrastructure across the country that has thrown him up as ‘tested and trusted’, Oyenekan said, “Even at that, other materials would also be searched for and fished out with a view to scrutinizing their pedigrees and antecedents in public service and their level of service delivery.”
In conclusion, the group boss therefore urged all well-meaning individuals and groups to be on the lookout in search of the best materials for the country in 2023, admonishing that it is time Nigerians woke up to take their destinies in their hand without waiting for somebody else to do it for them.
