Eight names have so far emerged as likely running mates for the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s presidential flag-bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
This is coming just as the ruling party is said to be in a dilemma over who to pick as his running mate for the 2023 election.
Various caucuses in the party are reportedly behind the push for eight names as likely preferred choice as running mate.
No fewer than six camps in the APC in the North are reportedly backing separate individuals, including serving and former State governors as well as ex-ministers who played key roles at the conventions that produced the current APC national officers and the just-concluded presidential primary in Abuja.
The eight names that have so far emerged reportedly include a leading critic of the APC administration.
All the names that have been thrown up are Governors Babagana Zulum (Borno), Nasir el-Rufa’i (Kaduna), Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano) and Samuel Lalong (Plateau); former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha.
Zulum is reportedly being considered by the Progressives Governors as their likely choice, against the deal which a source said Tinubu had with Shettima, the arrowhead of his campaign organisation ahead of the recent primary.
It was learnt that the leaders of the northern political establishment have not ruled out the possibility of a Muslim-Muslim ticket for APC if it hopes to win the 2023 presidential election.
The Muslim-Muslim agenda is said to be the response of the Northern establishment to a raging campaign in the North that many prospective voters are threatening to vote against the APC if it fails to pick a Muslim from the North as running mate to Tinubu.
According to them, apart from one or two persons, APC lacks a figure in the mould of Atiku that can rally Christian politicians from the North to guarantee victory for the ruling party.
Those pushing for el-Rufai to become running mate claimed that it was the key demand of delegates when Tinubu visited Kaduna to lobby them. In their opinion, it was time for him to accede to the demand in order to keep the governor in Nigeria after his tenure ends in May next year.
