The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has said there is no law that prevents a kingmaker from becoming a king.
He disclosed this on Monday after informing President Muhammadu Buhari of his intention to contest the presidency in the 2023 general election.
The two-term governor of Lagos state spoke to State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa.
The politician played a key role in the merger of different parties to form the APC, and the subsequent emergence of Buhari as the party’s candidate in 2015.
He said: “About the cap of the kingmaker. I have never seen the cap of a kingmaker before.”
“That is the truth and I have never seen where it is written in the rule book anywhere in any country that a kingmaker cannot be a king – unless you commit murder.
“So, whatever is your attribute [of me] is your own opinion. Me, I want to pursue my ambition without the title of a kingmaker. You can write your literature and story based on your own perception.”
Tinubu said Buhari is not stopping him from pursuing his lifelong ambition to be Nigeria’s president.
“He (Buhari) is a democrat. He didn’t ask me to stop. He didn’t ask me not to attempt and pursue my lifelong ambition,” he said.
“So, why do I expect him to say more than that? You are running a democratic dispensation, and you must adopt the principles and the values and virtues of democracy. That’s it.”
The former Lagos governor said he has the capacity to govern Nigeria.
“I have the confidence, the vision, the capacity to rule, build on the foundation of Mr. President, and turn Nigeria better,” he said.
“In Lagos state, you’ve seen that experience and the capacity to turn things around and that is what we are doing,” he said.