Running Mates: Atiku, Tinubu Weigh Options As Camps Push For Contenders

• PDP’s NWC, govs divided over Wike, Okowa, Udom

• CAN kicks as Asiwaju’s camp considers 

• Muslim-Muslim ticket

• Fixation of Nigerians on religion pathetic – El-Rufai

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are weighing options on who they would choose as their running mates.

This is just as various camps in the two leading political parties in the country have intensified their push for the selection of contenders in their caucuses for the position of vice president.

With the conclusion of the primaries of the two political parties, attention has since been shifted to the selection of running mates of the two political juggernauts.

The choice of the running mates, analysts say, will determine the victory or otherwise of the two candidates in the February 25, 2023, presidential election.

Stressing this point, an associate professor of Political Sociology, University of Abuja, Dr Abubakar Umar Kari, said, “A lot depends on their choices of running mates and the ability or luck in securing the support and cooperation of key individuals and groups who are quite unhappy with the outcome of the primaries.” 

The search for the running mates is being carried out by the leadership of the two political parties and governors, who are the strongest bloc in the two political parties.  

Credible sources in both parties said serving governors were being considered for the positions.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that they have up till June 17 to submit their nominations to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Tinubu meeting with APC governors

PDP’s NWC, govs divided over Wike, Okowa, Udom

It was gathered that there is a sharp crack in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP over the choice of a running mate.

Daily Trust Saturday had reported that Atiku was considering the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, for the position. But the indication of interest by the Rivers State governor, Nysom Wike, who came second in the primary, has been causing ripples in the party.

The Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel, is also being promoted by another camp in the party.

A member of one of the PDP’s organs said Wike’s entry into the race had created cracks in the NWC and the party’s  Governors Forum.

“Except for the national chairman, almost all members of the NWC want Wike to be considered for the position because of the role he played in the sustenance of the party. 

“A similar scenario is playing out among the 13 governors of our party. Wike has six or seven governors supporting him,” he said.

Another source said a committee of elders had been constituted to assist in the selection.  

“One of the key personalities in the committee is a former National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Gusau. They will come up with someone that has electoral value and that will be acceptable to all,” he said.

A member of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) said they had embarked on wide consultation to ensure that an acceptable running mate is selected.

“I won’t deceive you, consultation is ongoing. We have not concluded. Everybody is being carried along,” he said and confirmed the constitution of a selection committee.

Eyes on Zulum

Meanwhile, two sources close to the candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, have said that the preference of the camp of the former Lagos State governor is a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

 The camp of the national leader is mulling a repeat of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, when the late business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola, picked his running mate from Borno State, Babagana Kingibe.

One of the sources, a confidant of the APC flag-bearer, said except for the uproar, they were narrowing down on the Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum.

“Our best bet is a Muslim-Muslim ticket. The vice president is not as powerful as people say. He is just a spare tyre. The attention should be on the Senate president. 

“Two, Asiwaju’s wife is a Christian and an ordained pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. As you know, she is a politician who has been in the Senate since 2011. So, there is no cause for alarm,” he said.

Another leader in Tinubu’s camp  said a Muslim-Muslim ticket was almost a fait accompli for the APC.

“I believe we can defeat Atiku silly if we get our acts right,” he said.

Atiku during his meeting with Governor Wike

CAN warns against Muslim-Muslim tickets

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has warned the leading political parties to avoid the thought of a Christian/Christian or Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket in 2023.

CAN’s national secretary, Joseph Bade Daramola, a lawyer, said on Friday in Abuja that such development would be a threat to the fragile peace and unity of Nigeria.

He, however, congratulated the presidential candidates of the ruling APC, the main opposition PDP, the Labour Party (LP): Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi respectively, and other parties that are participating in the forthcoming presidential election.

He said, “CAN urges that a balance of both religious practitioners be considered in the choice of running mates of the presidential candidates. We do not subscribe to Christian/Christian or Muslim/Muslim tickets.

“Politicians can talk politics, but we have stated our view long before now. Any party that tries the same religion ticket will fail. This is not 1993. Even when we have a joint Muslim/Christian ticket, the church still goes through hell.

“Imagine how bad it will be if we have two Muslims in power? The extant Nigerian constitution promotes religious balance. So, if any political party wants to try a Muslim/Muslim ticket, it is at its peril. CAN is only forewarning, but will make a categorical statement in the event our warning is not heeded.”

He urged the presidential running mate for the APC presidential flag-bearer, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu should be a Christian from the North; Atiku’s running mate should be a Christian from the South, while Obi should choose his own among the Muslims from the North.

“Anything contrary to the above means that the leadership of these political parties do not bother about the unity of Nigeria. Those who are planning a Muslim/Muslim ticket should also find out what was the outcome of the MKO Abiola and Kingibe ticket in 1993. 

“If they try a Muslim/Muslim ticket this time around, the outcome will be worse because our fault lines are very visible,” he said.

Fixation of Nigerians on religion pathetic – El-Rufai 

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has bemoaned what he called “fixation of Nigerians on religion instead of capacity”, saying it is sad and pathetic. 

He said this on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme monitored in Abuja. 

When asked on the thought of a Muslim-Muslim ticket and how this would sit with most Nigerians and if he thinks the APC could tow that line in today’s Nigeria, El-Rufai said, “I don’t look at people from the lens of Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian. Some of my closest friends are Christians. It was Pastor Tunde Bakare, a Pentecostal pastor that took me to CPC and not President Buhari.

“I am very close to Pastor Bakare; I am very close to many Christians. I don’t think that the business of governance has to do with religion. I think we should look for the best person for the job, the person that will get the job done, and get him to do that.

“I am the wrong person to ask because in my state, I picked a very competent, qualified woman as my running mate in the 2019 elections. But just because she happens to be a Muslim, people are calling it a Muslim-Muslim ticket, and they said we were going to lose, we didn’t, we won overwhelming.

“This fixation of Nigerians with religion instead of competence and capabilities is quite sad and pathetic. And I urge you as media, to please take religion out of governance, and let us look for competence, capacity, capability and delivery.

“I don’t think we should be looking at religion. We want to develop this country. When I get into a plane, I don’t ask for the job the pilot when I go to hospital, I don’t ask for the religion of the doctor. I just want to get well. I want to get to my destination in an aircraft.

“The way the media and many irresponsible people try to inject religion in politics and governance is sad and pathetic. It will not take us anywhere.

“Nigeria is at a crossroads. We face very serious dangers in security in economic meltdown, global issues are affecting us and all people are concerned as far as who will be president or vice president is religion. It is so sad. It is not our religion that will solve our problem. It is the people who are competent,” he said.

On the reported move to appoint him as the running mate to Tinubu, he said, “The candidate (Tinubu) would choose his running mate. He would evaluate many factors in choosing his running mate and I think the best we can do is to give him space, give him time and advise him and guide him to make the right choice.”