Buhari/Fashola ticket’ll defeat Jonathan, says APC leader

Fashola/Buhari

A leader of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Chief Ayo Akande, has said that the APC would win the 2015 presidential elections if the party picks Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) as its presidential candidate and the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, as the running mate.

 Akande, who said this in a statement on Thursday, described a Buhari/Fashola ticket as the “best option” for the party because of their good antecedents.

Though the APC, he said, had many options for its presidential and vice presidential candidates, the party chieftain said the combination of Buhari and Fashola would be the perfect option to seize power from the PDP in the presidential election.

Buhari on Wednesday had declared his ambition to run for the post of the president on the platform of the APC.

If he emerges the APC candidate, the former military ruler will be contesting the presidency for the fourth time.

He contested against ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party and against the late former President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007, also on the platform of the ANPP. In 2011, he was also the presidential candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change.

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola

Both the ANPP and CPC merged with the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria to become the APC.

Fashola has been the governor of Lagos State since 2007.

Jonathan has been endorsed as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2015 poll.

Akande, who noted that the Buhari/Fashola ticket was his personal suggestion, said corruption would be effectively curbed in the country while poverty would be drastically reduced to the barest level if the APC considers the option.

He said, “A Buhari/Fashola combination stands to offer lot of advantages. We all know Buhari as a man of good virtue, who did not corruptly enrich himself. The APC stands a better chance to defeat President Goodluck Jonathan who has been endorsed as the sole candidate of the PDP for the 2015 presidential election.

“A Buhari/Fashola team would give the Peoples Democratic Party a good fight in the presidential elections.

“The antecedents of Buhari as a military head of state in terms of war against indiscipline and corruption and Fashola’s self-discipline and accountability would give the APC the long-sought exalted seat of the president of the country.”

Akande also commended Fashola’s achievements in Lagos, saying that he deserved a higher responsibility, having performed well as governor for eight years.

“Fashola will make a good president but if the presidency is zoned to the North, then he will make a perfect running mate to Buhari,” he said.