From Fred Itua, Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja, Desmond Mgboh, Kano and Gyang Bere, Jos
Weeks after Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Lagos State governor emerged as presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), intrigues and infightings within the party has stalled efforts to select his substantive running mate.
Tinubu had chosen a placeholder, Kabiru Masari, in order to beat the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). However, the choice of a substantive running mate has proved Herculean given mounting pressure by northern governors under the party platform to have him cede the position to one of them.
Daily Sun learnt that though President Muhammadu Buhari had instructed the leadership of the party, led by its national chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, to steer clear and allow Tinubu the free hand to select his running mate, the governors are unwilling to concede that right to the presidential flag bearer.
It was also learnt that Tinubu’s headache is further compounded by the growing opposition to his planned Muslim-Muslim ticket by Northern Christians and the leaderships of various churches in Nigeria. The APC presidential flag bearer, it was learnt, has however narrowed his option to the North East and North West.
Multiple sources familiar with the development, however, said Tinubu in recent weeks has been having a running battle with northern governors, believed to have worked for him during the presidential primary, who are insisting he must honour the gentleman agreement to pick one of them as running mate.
A source said Tinubu was in a dilemma that the governors may work against him if he failed to honour the agreement reached with them ahead of the primary to pick one of them as his substantive running mate.
One of the sources who hails from the North East and who doesn’t want to be named because he’s not authorised to speak, said there is also the dilemma of choosing between the North West and North East which also explains why the party candidate is yet to name his vice.
He said beside the governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, the other two APC governors from the North East, are unwilling to risk their second term tickets for the position.
“Tinubu has been given the free hands to pick a running mate. From what we’ve seen, he will possibly settle for a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Many party leaders are against this option, including President Buhari. But since Buhari has also instructed that Tinubu should be allowed to pick his running mate, he has no choice, but to respect his choice. But governors from the North who are APC members, are not willing to give up that position. They’re insisting that a running mate should be produced by them.
“If Tinubu must win in the North, he needs these governors. If he ignores them and picks someone outside their circle, there will be trouble. But the issues are beyond that. North West has six APC governors and the highest in the party. The geopolitical zone also has the highest number of registered voters. That gives them the bargaining power.
“So, they’re dictating and pushing that a governor from the geopolitical zone be picked. But North Central is equally important. But it appears that Tinubu isn’t unwilling to gamble with votes from the North West and that’s part of the reasons why the party has no substantive running mate right now,” he said.
Another source lamented that the leadership of APC that should have handled this critical assignment had been completely sidelined.
“It can’t recommend or decide; it has become a toothless bulldog. I’m aware that Tinubu has given a deadline within which governors and other leaders from the North will recommend at least three names to him. Tinubu is then expected to pick from these names. Whether or not the governors will shift their selfish positions and carry others along, time will tell,” he said.
•I’m still searching –Tinubu
Tinubu, yesterday, said he was still searching for a running mate. The former Lagos State governor, who spoke at the public presentation of the book: “Mr Speaker” in honour of Femi Gbajabiamila, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, however, did not say to what extent he had gone in the search.
Director of Media and Communications, Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, in a chat with Daily Sun, confirmed that Tinubu is still consulting.
He said the APC presidential candidate cannott do the selection alone.
“Tinubu isn’t having any issues with Northern APC governors or in any fix. He’s consulting with the party and will decide soon. So, there’s no problem at all,” he said.
APC spokesman, Felix Morka, did not respond to calls or a message from our correspondent on the issue.
•It’ll be suicidal to pick Christian running mate –Yakasai
Elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai, has warned that it would be politically suicidal for Tinubu to pick a Christian as running mate.
Lending his voice to the push for a Muslim-Muslim ticket, Yakasai said If Tinubu should pick a Christian, whether from the North or South, majority of voters in the Muslim North may move their support for Atiku.
He said a Muslim northerner would strengthen Tunibu’s hold on votes of Muslims.
Yakasai implored Tinubu to pick a credible Muslim from the North East arguing that the zone has had the least presence in the corridor of power compared to the North Central and North West.
“My hope is that by the time he completes his own tenure, it would naturally pave the way for the North-East to produce the next president,” he said.
He argued that despite the opposition by some Christians, including the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the idea of a Muslim-Muslim ticket was not new in Nigeria, saying it has been deployed in the past with considerable success.
Yakasai recalled that MKO Abiola appointed Babagana Kingibe, a fellow Muslim as his running mate in the1993 presidential elections and were well received by Nigerians, who voted massively for them at the polls.
•Lalong: I’m not desperate
Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, has dismissed reports of abandoning the state to lobby for the vice presidential slot in Lagos.
His media aide, Makut Macham, said he had never been desperate for any elective or political position.
“If God says he will be the next vice president Nigeria, nobody can stop it. It is up to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the APC family to decide. Lalong together with his colleagues have done their part in insisting that power goes to the South. Let everyone remember that it is God who gives power to whomsoever he pleases. No amount of paid propaganda can change anything. Head or tail, Lalong wins,” he said.
He also refuted the claim that the governor was spending billions of the state’s funds for the said endeavour.
He said the story was “anchored completely on a fathom anonymous source that provided wonderfully packaged fiction and lies claiming that Governor Simon Lalong abandoned governance in Plateau State and relocated to Lagos in search of being nominated as Asiwaju Tinubu’s running mate.”
He said Lalong has not been to Lagos in the last couple of months, the last, being the inauguration of the Dangote Fertilizer Plant and new Murtala Mohammed International Airport Terminal by President Muhammadu Buhari and attended by many governors.
“We wonder where the so-called “source” got his imagination from about Governor Lalong relocating to Lagos, but could not provide the date, time, mode of movement or address where he allegedly relocated to in Lagos. Of course, he cannot provide such details because they do not exist even in his fictional contraption.”