2023 Presidency: SWAGA boasts Tinubu already has 12m votes in southwest

The group said that the presidential contest would be easy for Tinubu to win based on the projection that ‘he already has millions of votes in his pocket’.

The Chairperson of the group, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye said this on Friday, October 8, 2021, while speaking on Channels TV’s ‘Politics Today’ programme.

There have been claims that Tinubu is nursing an ambition to run for presidency in 2023, even though the former governor of Lagos State has yet to declare his intention to contest.

Speaking on the programme, Adeyeye said Tinubu has at least 12 million votes from the South-West, just as President Muhammadu Buhari had 12 million votes from the North before the 2015 elections.

He added that traditional rulers and market leaders in the region have expressed their support for Tinubu’s presidential ambition.

He said, “When this movement started, we wanted our candidate who some people particularly in Abuja and some circles have been saying have no home base; he is no longer popular and all that. We wanted to prove to them that the man is very acceptable, not only in his home base but throughout the country.

“We want everybody in the South-West to rally around this man and support him and so far we have been very successful.

“We have moved round the palaces to see most of our top traditional rulers who have endorsed him.

“Charity begins at home; we wanted to solidify the Homebase. Once the home base is solidified, I believe other Nigerians, particular in our party, will feel more comfortable to field this candidate, knowing that he can win the election for them.

“Don’t forget that one of the selling points for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 was that he already had 12 million votes in his pocket (in previous elections) particularly in the North-West and North-East. So, it was easy with support from a few other places for him to win the presidency.

“We are also saying that come 2023, the man we are projecting already has at least 12 to 13 million votes in his pocket and so it will be easy.”

Asked how he came about the figure, the former minister of State for Works and Housing said he gave the figure based on what he had seen on ground, adding that many political parties have vowed to support Tinubu if he contests.