The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has began the search for his running mate ahead of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s June 17 deadline for parties to submit their candidates’ lists.
During an interview with The PUNCH, spokesman for the Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu would meet the APC governors whom he said would pick running mate for the APC presidential candidate
It was also gathered that Tinubu would meet party leaders, including the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, before the end of the week.
Onanuga stated that Tinubu already had an arrangement with the APC governors that if he emerged the candidate of the party, the governors would decide the person to pick.
According to him, Tinubu prefers a collective responsibility than doing it on his own.
The spokesman stated, “The Vice-President can come from any region and religion. But the PGF is at liberty to pick. Up till now, we are all aware that Atiku has not chosen a VP. Yet he was elected before him. But in our own case, it is a party affair.
“The party leaders will look at the chances and decide how they will balance a Muslim from the South, maybe with somebody that comes from North- East, North-Central or from North-West. That is how it is done. I cannot circumvent the party. The Governor Atiku Bagudu-led PGF has the task to pick a competent deputy for him,” he said.
Asked when Tinubu might likely meet with the governors, Onanuga stressed that though a date had not been chosen, it would not take long.
“Already, he has a cordial relationship with virtually all of them. You will also have to understand that he has just picked the presidential ticket. I am also sure that this issue of picking the right candidate for VP will be in the minds of the party leadership and the APC governors too.
“At this moment, we just want to pause and take a rest from the stress of the just-concluded campaign.”
An aide of the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, disclosed said that the APC presidential candidate would meet with northern governors in Abuja before the weekend, PUNCH reports.
The aide said, “The issue of the vice-presidential candidate has been settled even before the presidential primary. From all indications, things are moving according to plans while the elders from the North-West had suggested one of the popular and loyal party members as his deputy.”
The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, said the running mate to presidential candidate of the APC might come from the North-East geopolitical zone.
According to Ado-Doguwa, this is based on the current zoning arrangement of the APC.
Speaking on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television, few hours after the presidential primary of the APC on Wednesday, Ado-Doguwa said the vice-presidential candidate might come from the North-East while the leadership of the ruling party would deliberate on the religion factor.