- Ganduje, Masari, el-Rufai on the list
Baring any last minute change, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will today release the name of his running mate, 24 hours to the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to sources close to the party, Tinubu had been locked in a lengthy closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in a bid to untie the knot over the Muslim/Muslim ticket being promoted by some interested stakeholders.
The source disclosed that while the Muslim/Muslim controversy raged, some stakeholders made a case for a younger person to deputise the former Lagos State governor.
Insider sources disclosed that the pendulum may swing to the Northwest in the bid to harvest maximally from the chunk of votes from the region.
According to the source, Tinubu, who has settled for the Muslim/Muslim ticket in spite of all the antagonism, is likely to submit one of three names – Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State or Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State – to INEC as his running mate.
Giving vent to this new scenario, the Director-General of Ganduje’s Support Group, Suleiman Magaji, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, said the APC National Working Committee (NWC) narrowed down the choice of Tinubu’s running mate on the basis of loyalty, commitment and infrastructural development.
The statement, however, acknowledged that the issue of religion played out eloquently during the selection process but noted that Nigerians were more interested in developmental stride rather than religious affairs.
While it was Kaduna governor, el-Rufai, who first sounded out the possibility of a Muslim-Muslim ticket, another insider source, yesterday, said the presidential flag bearer picked one Alhaji Kabir Masari from Katsina as his running mate.
Masari is of the Malumfashi/Kafur Constituency in Katsina State, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari. The vice presidential slot given to Masari, according to sources is a ‘holding ticket,’ as both Tinubu and his friends in the APC are still consulting widely for a suitable deputy.
It was gathered that Masari’s name would be changed for another Northern politician in a month’s time. The source said Masari would be holding the ticket in trust for another candidate to be announced by Tinubu as the party navigates through the challenges of choosing Tinubu’s deputy as deadline nears.
However, a NWC member confided in The Guardian that Tinubu has indeed settled for a dummy name called Ibrahim Masari, “but he is separate from the Katsina governor. Tinubu did that just to fulfill INEC’s requirement pending when he makes up his mind on his running mate.”
The decision comes as Nigerians debate the suitability, or otherwise, of the ruling party running with a Muslim/Muslim ticket even as ethnicity and religion become two big issues in the politics of 2023.
