Except for last minute changes, immediate past governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima has been picked as running mate for All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to multiple sources, the APC has settled for Muslim-Muslim ticket in order for the party to win the presidential election.
The Chief Whip of the Senate and former Governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia North) had said the best option for Tinubu is to pick a Muslim running mate to brighten his chances of winning the 2023 presidential poll.
According to him, Tinubu can not win the presidential election with Christian northerner as running mate.
He noted that there was nothing wrong if Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu ran a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Kalu noted that it would be politically naive for Tinubu, a minority Muslim from the South-West, to choose a minority Christian from the North as his running mate.
He urged Christians to relax, disclosing that the wife of the APC presidential candidate, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is a pastor in a renowned pentecostal church.
A source also disclosed that stakeholders in the region believes that the former Borno State governor is a better option than the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who were reportedly in the race.
Speaking under condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, the National Working Committee (NWC) member said that “after careful consideration we settled for Senator Shettima. He will give us the votes we need.”
Confirming the report, Dr Garus Gololo, an APC Chieftain commended the choice of Shettima as Tinubu’s running mate, adding that “the decision of the NWC will help the party to win the north.”
“This development means that before 12pm on election day, the APC will defeat Atiku and other opposition candidates, hands down. It’s a clear sign that we will win the 2023 elections. Nothing will stop us, Isha Allah,” he maintained.
The former Lagos governor was announced as winner of the APC primary elections.
DAILY GIST reported that 2,322 delegates from 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) elected Tinubu as the flagbearer of the ruling party for the 2023 presidential election
