Indications have emerged that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, may choose either Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, or his predecessor, Senator Kashim Shettima, as his running mate for the 2023 general election.
Tinubu, who is currently in France, had recently said he was still searching for his running mate ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
The former Lagos State Governor, who made this known while speaking at the public presentation of a book titled ‘Mr. Speaker’ and launch of legislative mentoring initiative in commemoration of the 60th birthday of Speaker of House Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had earlier submitted the name of a chieftain of the ruling party in Katsina State, Ibrahim Masari, to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as his surrogate running mate.
Masari is a serving board member of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Plateau State.
This was just as the leaders of the APC in the North-West geopolitical zone resolved to meet with Tinubu to pick his running mate from the zone.
The North-West APC leaders made this known via a statement issued by the party’s National Vice-Chairman (North-West), Dr Salihu Lukman, after their meeting held in Kaduna on Thursday.
According to the statement, the leaders resolved to meet Tinubu with a view to engaging the party on aggregate interest and concerns of the zone.
However, with about 12 days to the July 15 deadline for political parties to submit the final names of their presidential candidates and running mates to INEC, it was gathered that Tinubu, after a thorough consultation, settled for Zulum and Shettima.
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Zulum is believed to have a wide acceptance in the northern region of the country following his record of performance especially in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, while Shettima, an ally of Tinubu, expressed deep support for the APC chieftain’s candidacy when he rose in his defence after the Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital outburst where Tinubu decried attempts to frustrate his presidential bid.
A staunch ally of Tinubu said: “The race for the running mate for Asiwaju has been reduced to just two men. They are the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, and his predecessor, Kashim Shettima, who is the senator representing Borno Central Senatorial District. All things being equal, the running mate should emerge between these two men.
“Tinubu is returning to face this issue of a running mate once and for all and he is likely going to see to its end before Sallah, which is July 10,” PUNCH quoted the source as saying.
Another source, who is a member of the defunct Bola Tinubu for President Campaign and a member of the House of Representatives, added that APC presidential standard-bearer might pick an incumbent governor as the party’s vice-presidential candidate for the 2023 general election.
The lawmaker said: “The position is likely going to a serving governor either from the North-East or the North-West. But I think North-East is being favoured because the zone has yet to produce a President and we need to share the votes from the zone with Vice-President Atiku Abubakar who is from the zone and he is also the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.
“If we pick Zulum, the noise about a Muslim-Muslim ticket would reduce. I think the Christian community would accept him. He is hard-working and might be considered on merit by the people. Christians won’t mind supporting him. His name would resonate all over.”
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