Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared that Lagos deserves to produce Nigeria’s next president in 2023 and defended the APC Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket. 

APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu is a Muslim from Lagos, and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, is a Muslim from Borno. Both men were governors of their states.

“We deserve the presidency. In Lagos, we deserve it. Lagos requires it, and it would be by the grace of God a bigger, better and stronger nation and state that all of you would be truly proud of to have been part of,” said Mr Sanwo-Olu.

The Lagos governor stated this on Thursday at the 96th Anniversary Lecture of the Yoruba Tennis Club. He noted that electing the next president of Nigeria should be about leadership, character, audacity to think and the ability to think deeply and solve problems.

“We had forgotten that in 2011 when Action Congress at that time gave a platform to Malam Nuhu Ribadu and his vice presidential candidate then was Mr Fola Adeola. It was a joint Muslim-Muslim ticket, and we did not see any problem at that time,” Mr Sanwo-Olu pointed out. “But suddenly, because there is a likelihood of this ticket emerging as a winner, people now want to divide us. We will say no because that is not who we are.”

He insisted that the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket was not about promoting a particular religion but it “is about leadership.” 

“It is about character. It is about audacity to think. It is about the ability to be able to think deep and solve problems. We do not want to despair other candidates. We all know too well what their antecedents are. We all know too what their credentials are. But we know that as a nation, we need a strong launch pad,” the Lagos governor further explained. 

He added, “We need to think out of the box and be able to put our best foot forward.”

The governor commended the leadership of the Yoruba Tennis Club for choosing to invite Mr Shettima as the guest speaker.

“We are celebrating 96 years now, and let it be on record that by 2026 during our centenary celebration, by the grace of God, we will have Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu coming here to celebrate as president on our centenary,” Mr Sanwo-Olu stated. “By your grace and your support, I will still remain as your 15th governor, coming here and celebrate in four years’ time, and all of you will be here.”