THE Tinubu Campaign Organisation has disclosed that the 2023 presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has chosen his running mate.
A member of the organisation, who anonymously spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) today in Abuja, said Tinubu would announce the name of the running mate this week.
READ ALSO:
Kashim Shettima emerges as Tinubu’s running mate
Masari resigns as Tinubu’s running mate
Tinubu calls for arrest of Kuje prison attackers
NAN quoted the member as saying, “The vice-presidential nominee may most likely be a former governor and senator from the Northeast part of Nigeria.
“The person is also by accident of birth a Muslim, confirming what Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State said on Saturday that Tinubu had settled for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.”
The source said that the presidential candidate considered competence, exposure and intellectual depth, rather than religion, in picking the candidate.
The former Lagos State governor emerged APC’s presidential candidate on June 8, 2022 at the party’s special national convention and presidential primary election.
He had earlier chosen Ibrahim Kabiru Masari as placeholder for the vice-presidential slot.
The source added that Tinubu, who returned to Nigeria on Saturday for Sallah festivities, would pay Sallah homage to President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina, on Sunday to brief him on his chosen running mate.
Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) appears to be undecided on its stand concerning the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
CAN had earlier said that its members would not support Tinubu in the 2023 general poll if he finally settles for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The assistant general secretary of the association, Elder Biodun Sanyaolu, in a statement, first condemned the possible Muslim-Muslim ticket, saying that CAN had made its position known that a Muslim-Muslim ticket would not be supported, as it would not support a Christian-Christian ticket.
But in another breath, Sanyaolu said that CAN would not mind the religious combination of the leaders at the helm of the nation’s affairs, so long they provide good leadership.
“All we are saying and want is the leader that will do well to everyone, irrespective of class, religion, sex, region, colour, among others,” he said.
He added that the association would listen to Tinubu on the issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket if he seeks to meet its members.
'Niyi worked with The ICIR as an Investigative Reporter and Fact-checker from 2020 till September 2022. You can shoot him an email via [email protected]. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @niyi_oyedeji.