President Muhammadu Buhari is not supporting any All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential aspirant, his spokesman, Femi Adesina says.
Mr Adesina stated this on Friday while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today as a guest.
The president’s visit to Bola Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor in London on Thursday sparked the notion in some quarters that he was backing the APC chieftain to succeed him in office.
Messrs Buhari and Tinubu are in the United Kingdom on medical related issues, although the former attended a global educational submit during the 18-day visit.
Mr Tinubu who is reportedly sick is in the foreign country attending to his health. To dismiss speculations of his worsening health conditions in some quarters, the presidency released the picture of the politician with a walking stick posing with the Nigerian leader.
Dismissing claims of the endorsement, Mr Adesina said his principal was yet to support any aspirant of the party.
He said the president will only support whoever emerge the flag bearer of the ruling party for the next presidential election.
“The President still has two years, less than three months in his tenure of office. So for him to start supporting somebody now will just be jumping the gun,” the president’s mouthpiece said. “And you know that President Buhari will never do that.
“Before the 2019 election, people started to campaign for him before INEC blew the whistle of the campaign to start. He was the one who came out to say No, don’t do it!. Don’t jump the gun!.
“So the President himself will dare not jump the gun in terms of supporting one candidate or the other.
“Also recall that he has said that anybody who wants to be President after him should go out and work. That means the president may not be supporting anybody until maybe when the candidate of the party emerges. Knowing President Buhari, he will never jump the gun,” he added.
Mr Tinubu, Governor Yahaya Bello and Senator Orji Kalu are among top aspirants reportedly jostling for the top job, though none has declared officially.
