Former House of Representatives Speaker Dimeji Bankole is set to buy the presidential nomination form of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dateline Nigeria has learnt.
Sources close to the Abeokuta, Ogun State-born politician said the former speaker has concluded arrangements to run for president after consulting key stakeholders across the country.
“He [Bankole] will buy the APC nomination form next week. He has met with various stakeholders and their support is overwhelming, especially across the North.
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“Many see him as someone who ticked all the boxes as far as having a young, smart, competent and patriotic president is concerned.
“Just like former military president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida posited, Nigeria needs a young leader. I think there should be no debate over that even though the constitution did not stop old men from running for office.
“There are many northerners who believe Bankole is the right man to be supported, recalling how he handled the situation when then President Umaru Yar’adua took ill while in office. He is a candidate the North, indeed Nigeria as whole can trust,” one of the sources said.
Dateline Nigeria reports that Bankole was recently in Kaduna as the Special Guest of Honour at the 16th Annual Ramadan Lecture organized by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Voice of Nigeria (VON).
It was learnt that the former speaker used his presence in the northern state to meet many stakeholders who have since assured him of support.
Bankole, who was the 2019 governorship candidate of Action Democratic Party (ADP) in Ogun State, officially registered as a member of the APC in March 2021.
