As the race for President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor in 2023 gathers steam, a Southeast group, the Young Easterners for Progressive Governance (YEPG), has surprised many by declaring support for the Minister of Works, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN).
YEPG, which is an association of young professionals and entrepreneurs from the Southeast zone of the country, argued that ordinarily, they would have preferred the Presidency to be zoned to the Southeast but the reality, as they see it, was that the Southwest was in the best position to take over from Buhari in 2023.
Group.said n a statement signed by it’s leader, Kelechi Nwadike that, Fashola would enjoy the group’s wholesome support if his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), zones the position to the Southwest.
“We are for progress and good governance. Anyone who witnessed Fashola’s performance as Lagos State governor will not hesitate to support him to become the next president. He is, no doubt, the face of modern Lagos; except late Lateef Jakande, no other governor in Lagos, past and present, comes close to matching his performance in Lagos. So, if the presidency is zoned to the Southwest, we are better off supporting a man who has the capacity and the will to drive this nation forward,” Nwadike stated.
On Fashola’s popularity with the south easterners living outside Lagos, he said: “People in the Southeast have never seen a minister who is as committed to completing the Second Niger Bridge as Fashola has been in his time as Works Minister. That should be obvious to all. In any case, what most young south easterners want is a country that works for all; a country that allows them to thrive and succeed in their chosen endeavours and they know that with Fashola, such conditions are possible.”
