By Emeka Okafor
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said groups and individuals clamouring to succeed him in 2023 especially from the Southern part of the country should join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Buhari stated this in an exclusive interview with Arise TV while featuring on the station’s Morning Show.
The President was responding to a question on which zone in the South that should produce his successor in 2023.
He said the party will decide the zone that will produce the candidate of the party that will succeed but added, “…Those who want to be President should join APC.”
Buhari expressed optimism that it was his desire to see APC outlived his administration as well as to consolidate on his administration’s achievements when he leaves office as President.
He stated, “What this administration can do is to ensure the APC lasts beyond this administration. The APC will know the number of members in the local governments and the states so that by the time this administration goes, they (members) would be firmly on the ground and can continue. That is the best thing for the country politically and for the party.
“We should allow the party to decide. We started from the bottom up and I gave the acting chairman until the end of the month. He asked for an extension. They are going to give me a report on the convention we are going to conduct.
“We would start this from bottom up so that the members of the party would feel they are involved in the decision-making of the party, nobody is just sitting here in Lagos and telling them what to do. This is what we are arranging.
“No succession plan. It depends on the party. We are going to leave this to the party. The party would sit and make its decision. Those who want to be the President should better join the APC.”
