The Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari, has said the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, is better than all the other candidates vying to be the next president of Nigeria.
The 72-year-old Masari made this declaration during an interview with Nigerian-based television station, TVC.
“Who is better than him in the political terrain of Nigeria today?” Masari asked in response to a question on the chances of Tinubu, 70, in the 2023 presidential election.
Asked if Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, 61, was better, Masari said: “I don’t know him. Somebody who was a governor of Anambra? Go and ask a Katsina man and the politicians, how many of them know Peter Obi? We are talking about a presidential candidate of Nigeria, somebody who has cut all barriers – tribal, religious, regional, name it.”
Masari was, however, a bit more diplomatic with his response when asked about the chances of the 75-year-old presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar.
He said: “I think Atiku is a formidable force but our force is greater than him and he knows that. He is a veteran of contesting elections and also a veteran loser.”
The governor dismissed talks that 2023 is Atiku’s best chance of becoming President, saying, “That was said several times and it never came to pass and this one will never come to pass.”
When asked if Nigerian of northern extraction were buying into the Tinubu candidacy, Masari replied: “They’ve already bought into it. First of all, Bola Tinubu is not a new name in politics of Nigeria and we, the people of Katsina, know the role played by Bola Tinubu in 2015 for the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari.”
He added: “We know the support he gave in 2019 for the continuation of Muhammadu Buhari. We, here in Katsina, are not ingrates.”
