Presidency: Only if Buhari wins in 2019 will Yorubas stand a chance in 2023 – Osinbajo

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has urged the Yoruba race to vote overwhelmingly for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, saying this was the only way the presidency could return to the South West in 2023.
Osinbajo said this on Saturday in Oyo town, Oyo State during a house to house campaign for the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2019 elections.
Osinbajo’s position runs contrary to the impression being given by the APC that it will cede the presidency to the Igbo race in 2023 once Buhari gets a second shot at the presidency.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, had earlier in the year when he received some Igbo groups in his office in Abuja, said it will be the turn of the South East once Buhari finishes his second term in 2023.
However, Osinbajo’s position has also been earlier put forward by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola.
Speaking on Saturday in Oyo, Osinbajo, who held a 45-minute closed-door meeting with the Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, said the 2019 presidential election mattered to the South West because of the 2023 presidential race.
He said: “My visit to Kabiyesi today is a homecoming.
“I have never seen an Oba with the political sagacity like the Alaafin.
“I know this is God-given because no university teaches that.
“Kabiyesi is a man of integrity.
“That’s why we are following and consulting him.
“Everybody here will agree with me that being a Yoruba leader is not easy.
“That’s why leaders like Senator Ahmed Tinubu consult him in our country.
“Yoruba have a lot to contribute to Nigeria for the 2019 elections.
“It is for us Yoruba.
“If you understand, it is for us.
“We are not looking at 2019, but 2023.
“If we don’t get it now, it may take some time again.
“We have to look forward to that.
“That is before us.
“Though there could be some challenges, but what I know about President Muhammadu Buhari is that he is an honest man.
“If he says he will do something, he will do it.
“If you love Nigeria, you will vote for Buhari.
“Corruption is the reason Nigeria is not growing, a reason why they don’t want Buhari.
“They are out again.
“They are looters.
“Don’t allow them.”
Osinbajo was accompanied on the campaign and visit to Oba Adeyemi by the Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi; APC governorship candidate in the state, Chief Bayo Adelabu; and a former Senate Leader and APC senatorial candidate for Oyo Central Senatorial District, Senator Teslim Folarin.