As part of the plan to beat the Friday June 17 deadline given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to political parties to submit the names of presidential candidates and their running mates, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu has submitted the name of Kabir Ibrahim Masari.
It was, however, gathered that the name of Masari, who hails from the home State of President Muhammadu Buhari, would later be changed after the party stakeholders must have agreed on the suitable vice-presidential candidate for the 2023 elections.
A party source confirmed to DAILY POST that it was true that Tinubu has submitted the name of his running mate, but added that “consultation is still ongoing”
It was further gathered that the move by Tinubu and the ruling party was to meet the statutory requirement and beat the deadline set by the electoral umpire.
However, Tinubu will today meet President Muhammadu Buhari as consultation continues on the issue of his running mate.
There have been strong opposition against the issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket been mulled by the ruling party.
The source said: “All northern governors want it. If Asiwaju has his way, it will be Senator Kashim. But he wants the president and governors to pick for him.”
Asked why Tinubu does not want to pick his running mate himself, the source stressed he didn’t want to be a ‘winner takes it all.’