VP Slot: Shettima is top running mate choice in APC — Source

Barring last minute changes, immediate past governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, would be picked as running mate to All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, multiple sources privy to the various high-wire meetings on the issue, told Vanguard yesterday.

The sources said that the APC presidential candidate would do a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Asked about the chances of Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, who is a Christian, one of the sources said “some people are the ones toying with the idea. He (Tinubu) cannot run with Simon Lalong.’’

He added that some close allies of Tinubu believe that Shettima, who knew Tinubu’s ambition, should be a beneficiary.

When asked if Shettima’s choice was definite, the source said: “Nothing is concrete for now. His name was among those being mentioned. The others are not being mentioned the way Shettima is being mentioned.

“The likes of Boss Mustapha are also being mentioned. Shettima remains the top choice.”

This came as Chief Whip of the Senate and former Governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia North) said the best option for Tinubu is to pick a Muslim running mate to brighten his chances of winning the 2023 presidential poll.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has raised a panel headed by former Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, to screen vice-presidential nominees led by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who on Tuesday was recommended for the slot by a selection committee of the party.

The Ikimi committee was set up by the National Working Committee, NWC, yesterday.

The screening panel which is scheduled to meet candidates today (Thursday) has former Kogi governor, Captain Idris Wada and former AviMinisternister, Osita Casska as members.

Others are Binta Bello, Mutiat Adedoja, Austin Opara, Aisha Madawaki, George Ologun, Chidiebelu Mofus, Fidelis Tapgun and Akilu Indabawa who will serve as secretary.

This was contained in a statement signed by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.

He said the NWC set up the panel under Part V1, paragraph 14 of the Electoral Guidelines of the party.

Why Tinubu needs a Muslim running mate — Kalu

Arguing that the only option left for the APC presidential candidate is to go for a Muslim running mate for the 2023 presidential election, Orji Uzor Kalu told journalists in Abuja yesterday, that there was nothing wrong if Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu ran a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

According to him, it would be politically naive for Tinubu, a minority Muslim from the South-West, to choose a minority Christian from the North as his running mate.

He urged Christians to relax, disclosing that the wife of the APC presidential candidate, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is a pastor in a renowned pentecostal church.

But Kalu, whose preferred presidential aspirant, Ahmad Lawan, lost the APC presidential primaries said that what was paramount was for the APC to win the presidential election in 2023, stressing that a Southern minority Muslim and a Northern minority Christian can’t win the presidential election in Nigeria.

Kalu said: “Do you want me to speak the truth? If I were in Ahmed Tinubu’s situation, the wife is a senior pastor in a Pentecostal Church; I will go for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“You can also play a Christian-Christian ticket, depending on the scenario, but if you don’t play a Muslim-Muslim ticket, we are in trouble. It will be most difficult to win the election because the only thing left for Ahmed Tinubu today is to play Muslim-Muslim.

“I know the Church I go to, the Catholic Secretariat might condemn it, that it is not good, but what is wrong with Muslim-Muslim? There is nothing wrong with Christian -Christian ticket also. It depends on the conditions we find ourselves in today that we cannot play two minorities.

Tinubu is a minority Muslim from the South, and if you pick a Christian from the North, it is a minority Christian, and you cannot play two minorities; it is difficult.”

Kalu, who also declared his intention to work towards the success of the APC presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, promised to replicate for Tinubu the same level of efforts he devoted towards the emergence of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan before and during the party’s primaries.

Senator Kalu who said the South-East will vote for Tinubu, expressed satisfaction over the conduct and outcome of the primaries, noting that although he had anticipated the party’s presidential flag bearer would emerge via consensus, he would however work towards the success of Bola Tinubu.

Speaking on the primaries, Kalu said: “I am very satisfied with the primary; without that kind of primary there could have been a lot of factions. Although my group was prepared for consensus, not a primary when it came suddenly we had to abide by it. So I’m very happy that in the end, APC won.

‘’The next is to work for the APC and to work for the APC candidate, we have no alternative. I’m a party man. Now, the way I fought for Lawan is the same way I’ll fight for Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

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