…Aide debunks Asiwaju meeting with Wike
The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 election, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, may in the next few days name either Governor Babagana Zulum, of Borno State, or his predecessor, Senator Kashim Shettima, as his running mate.
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 the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it was learnt that Tinubu, after a thorough consultation, settled for the two names.
According to a staunch ally of Tinubu, Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufa’i, was also being considered but was eventually dropped, even though he played an active role in the emergence of Tinubu as the candidate of the party.
Recall that Tinubu, who is currently in France and is expected to return to the country soon to finalise the running mate issue before the deadline, had reportedly limited his search to Borno, Kano and Kaduna States, with all the prospective running mates being Muslims.
APC governors from the North-West had intensified moves to ensure the region produced the running mate. The governors, governorship candidates, ministers and other stakeholders from the zone at a meeting in Kaduna on Thursday expressed their resolve to push their cause, using their voting strength as a tool of negotiation.
But according to the ally, Tinubu would only have to make final consultations to choose between Zulum and Shettima when he returns to the country.
Zulum is believed to have a wide acceptance in the North given his record of performance, especially in the face of the Boko Haram insurgency; while Shettima, an ally of Tinubu, also showed his deep support for his candidacy when he rose in his defence after the Abeokuta (Ogun State) outburst where Tinubu decried attempts to frustrate his bid.
The source also revealed that “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.”
The APC presidential candidate had in the interim submitted the name of Ibrahim Kabir Masari as his running mate pending the conclusion of consultations on choosing the substantive running mate for Tinubu.
Meanwhile, Tinubu’s media aide, Tunde Rahman, on Friday night denied media reports that he (Tinubu) met with Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, in France.
This was apparently in response to the Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Drainage and Water Resources, Joe Igbokwe, who posted on his Facebook page on Thursday alleging that Wike was having a meeting with Tinubu in France.
But in his statement on Friday, Rahman dismissed Igbokwe’s post.
