Politics

Running Mate: Confusion Engulfs APC, Tinubu Limits Search To Borno, Kano, Kaduna

Published

3 years ago

June 26, 2022

The confusion over the choice of the authentic running mate to the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is deepening as he has returned to Abuja to continue consultations on the contentious issue.

Tinubu had returned to Lagos on Sunday, June 19, 12 days after he defeated a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; and Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, among others, to pick the APC presidential ticket.

Tinubu had in the days following his emergence visited all the contenders for the exalted seat in a bid to solicit their support and build unity in the party.

The APC candidate is expected to name his final running mate on or before the July 15 deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission to replace Kabir Ibrahim Masari, whom he named as in ‘placeholder’ capacity.

As the deadline draws near, Tinubu, the APC and the Progressive Northern Governors’ Forum are said to be in a dilemma over the choice of an acceptable running mate as opposition continues to mount over a possible Muslim-Muslim ticket for the ruling party. They have however continued the search for a formidable candidate.

Masari, a chieftain of the APC in Katsina State, is a serving board member of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Plateau State.

The Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had picked Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate; while the Labour Party candidate, peter Obi, settled for a former presidential spokesperson, Dr Doyin Okupe, as his running mate in ‘placeholder’ capacity.

The New Nigeria People’s Party, on the other hand, settled for a legal luminary, Ladipo Johnson, to run alongside its presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso. Both LP and NNPP are still holding talks to have a joint ticket but they have yet to decide on who among Obi and Kwankwaso would be the candidate and the running mate.

However, Tinubu’s choice of running mate is generating controversies the most with different groups kicking against a potentially same faith ticket. The former Lagos State governor is a Muslim married to Senator Oluremi Tinubu, an ordained pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

Tinubu, who is from the South-West, is expected to pick his running mate from the North, which is dominated by Muslims. It is believed that Christian politicians from the region are not popular enough to garner massive votes.

The national stakeholders of the APC had urged the party to narrow the search for the vice-presidential candidate to a northern Christian, while the General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi, advised politicians to feel the pulse of the nation before settling for the next set of leaders.

According to him, political leaders need to make consultations, especially on speculations around Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian tickets for the presidential election.

“The Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christian ticket is a difficult and slippery area,” he said.

A group, Northern Nigeria’s Front for Equity and Good Governance, has also rejected the proposed Muslim-Muslim ticket.

While insisting that there are a number of Christian northerners that the APC can choose from, the group recommended that the search is narrowed down to the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, for the sake of equity and justice.

Leader of the group, Zakariya Abdul’aziz, noted that religion had never dictated the voting pattern of the North, adding that the region had always participated in national politics as a diverse but united entity with common goals.

A former Chairman of the APC in Lagos State, Henry Ajomale, however, said the presidential candidate was set to unveil a Muslim as his running mate next month.

Speaking with The PUNCH in a telephone interview, Ajomale stated that the slot for the vice-presidential candidate, which is presently being held by would be filled by July 15.

Ajomale told one of our correspondents, “Although we are still consulting, it is certain that the APC will be flying a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“Masari, our placeholder, may likely be substituted before July 15. However, the destination is still between Borno State in the North-East and Kano/Kaduna states in the North-West. Either way, it will be a Muslim running mate.”

The names that have previously been mentioned in the three states are former governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima and the incumbent governor, Prof Babagana Zulum. In Kano State, the governor, Abdullahi Ganduje is said to be on the list, while in Kaduna State, the governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is being considered.

Ajomale maintained that the APC could not afford to gamble at such a critical moment when opposition candidates were desperately seeking an inroad to claim massive votes in the North.

He stated, “The truth is that Asiwaju has no choice. The majority of the northerners are Muslims and fielding a Christian northerner is a risk that can split his vote to give Atiku an edge. But if he settles for the former (a Muslim), they will troop out in large numbers to vote for him.”

Meanwhile, the synod of the Christian Reformed Church -Nigeria (CRC-N) on Saturday kicked against the proposed Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket by the APC.

The CRC-N synod said Nigeria was a secular state and that choosing a Muslim -Muslim ticket would come with consequences.

This was contained in the communiqué issued at the end of the 154th General Church Council meeting signed by the President, Rev Isaiah Jirapye, and the General Secretary, Rev Sagarga Gargea.

It described the proposal by the APC as a calculated arrangement aimed at pushing Christians out of the political leadership of the country.

Group advocates Dogara

The Coalition for Peace and Progress has called for the nomination of a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, as Tinubu’s running mate.

Addressing journalists on Saturday in Kaduna, the coalition’s National Coordinator, Dr Muhammad Chindo, said in keeping with the tradition of democracy, a lot of lobbying and search were ongoing to pick a capable and acceptable running mate for Tinubu.

He said such a candidate must be acceptable to the APC and the entire country.

“Above all, it is imperative that the future vice-president must be a Christian who can transcend primordial sentiments bordering on religion and the twin evils of tribalism and sectionalism in the country, for which Dogara is most appropriate,” he said.

Describing Dogara as a good Christian who would promote the cause of unity and togetherness among the diverse and heterogeneous citizens of Nigeria, Chindo said he was a viable candidate to run together with the APC presidential flag bearer.

Similarly, the General Overseer of All Christians Fellowship Mission in Maitama, Abuja, and former Chaplain of Aso Villa during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, Rev Williams Okoye, has said a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential election will be the height of insensitivity because the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, “has encouraged all kinds of bigotry and discrimination.”

Okoye, who is also the Director of the National Issues in the Christian Association of Nigeria, said the church would move completely against any political party that tried a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

Okoye said, “It is the height of insensitivity for anybody to consider Muslim-Muslim ticket or Christian-Christian ticket at this time because since this government came into place and has encouraged all kinds of bigotry and discrimination, these things have been heightened.

“People are so sensitive now to religious matters and ethnicity. So, if you go and start talking now about a Muslim-Muslim ticket or Christian-Christian ticket, it shows you are not sensitive to what is going on with the feelings of the masses.”

A prominent member of the Tinubu Campaign Organisation also said the presidential candidate had reduced the search for his running mate to Borno, Kano and Kaduna states.

He said the need for further consultations made the former Lagos State governor to return to Abuja after his brief stay in Lagos.

The source said, “Asiwaju is back in Abuja. He needs to make further consultations on this issue of running mate. He will meet with all stakeholders like members of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, members of the APC in the National Assembly, former governors produced by the party and he will even have discussions with the President on the issue.

“The issue is dragging on for too long and we do not like it. That’s why the man hurriedly left Lagos for Abuja. He is no longer a Lagos man now, but a national figure working to become the President.”

CRPA issues warning

Meanwhile, the Centre for Reforms and Public Advocacy has said the Electoral Act, 2022 prevented political parties from withdrawing running mates.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday by its Executive Director, Ifeanyi Okechukwu, the advocacy group observed that political parties fielding ‘placeholders’ had not taken time to study the amended Act.

According to him, the Act is clear on provisions for withdrawal and substitution of candidates, warning that sections 28 and 84 relate to only the candidates – presidential and governorship – and not their running mates.

He stated that substitution of candidates by political parties could only become possible in the case of withdrawal or death of presidential, gubernatorial, senatorial, House of Representatives and state assemblies’ candidates nominated by parties through valid primaries in accordance with sections 29 and 84 of the electoral law.

Okechukwu said, “Section 33 of the Electoral Act says, ‘A political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted under Section 29 of this Act, except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate provided that in the case of such withdrawal or death of a candidate, the political party affected shall, within 14 days of the occurrence of the event, hold a fresh primary election to produce and submit a fresh candidate to the commission for the election concerned’; and to conform with Section 33, Section 29 must be adhered to, to ascertain categories of candidates captured.

“Section 29 in subsection (1) says ‘every political party shall, not later than 180 days before the date appointed for a general election under this Act, submit to the commission, in the prescribed forms, the list of candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, who must have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political party’.”

The advocacy group leader enthused that it was no more business as usual for parties and their candidates as the current electoral law was stringent in many areas, especially on methods of political parties’ primaries, delegates, how withdrawal and substitution would be done and transmission of results, among others.

Okechuckwu added, “The current and subsisting electoral law does not capture a scenario that makes the possible substitution of associate candidates or running mates either by the account of voluntary withdrawal or death. Subsequently, any substitution of running mates nominated by presidential and gubernatorial candidates comes flat in the face of the law.

“While this might not have been a deliberate oversight, it must be accepted that the law is sacrosanct and nothing can be added or removed from it unless through amendment of sections 31 and 33 to make provision for that in the future.

“Until then, in accordance with section 31 which says, ‘A candidate may withdraw his or her candidature by notice in writing signed by him and delivered personally by the candidate to the political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the commission not later than 90 days to the election’.

“Section 33 states that only candidates who were nominated through valid primaries by political parties and whose names were submitted in accordance with Section 29 can withdraw and be substituted under the law, not running mates that were not nominated through any primaries but by presidential and gubernatorial candidates.”

PUNCH

Politics

Anambra Govt Insists Ekwunife Retracts Defamatory Statements Against Soludo, Wife

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

The Anambra State Government has insisted that Senator Uche Ekwunife’s contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of her defamatory statements against Governor Chukwuma Soludo and his wife, Nonye.

Senior Special Assistant to Governor Soludo on New Media, Ejimofor Opara, in a statement on Wednesday said Senator Ekwunife’s purported apology is another fabrication fit for the waste bin.

“Our attention has been drawn to a press statement purporting to emanate from an entity described as the “Ekwunife Campaign Organization” and captioned “EKWUNIFE CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION DISOWNS AND CONDEMNS MALICIOUS ARTICLE ASSOCIATED WITH HER”. This purported apology from a seemingly fictitious organization raises more questions than answers,” Opara said.

“Worse still, the statement was signed by an unknown person who was not the source of Madam Ekwunife’s slur remarks against the Governor and his wife.

“The publication, authored by one Tony Ezike, Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, presents several issues: The publication purporting to be an apology for the defamatory statements made against the Governor and his wife personally by Senator Ekwunife, does not appear to have emanated from the Senator herself, given that her defamatory statements were made directly via recorded video and leaked audio conversation.”

Opara said it is a known fact that there is no campaign organization known as the Ekwunife Campaign Organization since Senator Ekwunife’s ticket is a joint one with the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said this suggests that the statement did not truly emanate from Senator Ekwunife and therefore cannot be credited to her, adding that at best, it may be a ploy to prevaricate the fundamental issues posed by the First Lady in her personally signed statement.

Opara added that wherein Soludo’s wife challenged Senator Ekwunife to two key issues, first of which, is that she, as a converted Catholic, agrees to swear to an oath before the blessed sacrament that she has not known any other man since her marriage to Chief Larry Ekwunife, and she (Dr. Nonye Soludo) would also do same.

The second is for her to accept an all expense paid DNA test of her four children, three of whom were allegedly fathered by men other than her husband. In like manner, Mrs Soludo would present her six children for same test.

Opara argued that the defamatory publications were directly made by Senator Ekwunife through audio recordings and statements, stressing that any apology or retraction should logically come from the same source to carry significance.

He added that sadly, the so-called apology never referenced Ekwunife’s initial video and audio but chose to focus on an unsigned article.

Opara further said: “The purported apology referencing an unknown article with unknown authors, only points to one thing, and that is her complicity directly or indirectly as the source of the article—which contains only one of the many accusations she made against the Governor’s wife—it implies that no genuine apology was intended or tendered.

“The publication is not considered an apology or retraction by Senator Ekwunife and is believed not to emanate from her. If she intended to apologize, she should present it in a manner that leaves no doubt about its source or reliability.

“More importantly, slander or libel directly made by an individual cannot be vicariously dismissed by any agent or person other than the individual who made them.

“We consider the purported apology as another unsubstantiated social media gossip/fabrication that is neither verifiable nor credible. It leaves ample room for plausible deniability.

“We will proceed as if this piece of propaganda never happened, while maintaining the position that a proper and direct retraction of all fabrications against the Governor and his wife by Senator Ekwunife is necessary.”

Opara added that such a retraction should be made through a medium that leaves no doubt about its authenticity.

Therefore, he said that a contrite apology must follow a personal and direct retraction of Ekwunife’s defamatory statements.

Politics

Why Ibadan Shouldn’t Produce Next Oyo Gov — Group

Published

11 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

A group of eminent indigenes across 22 local government areas outside Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, under the aegis of Oyo G22 Renewed, has lamented what it described as decades of marginalisation in the governance of the state.

The group, in an open letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and the national and state chairmen of the All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, and African Democratic Congress, decried what it called a “historic and intolerable imbalance and insensitivity being perpetrated in Oyo State as far as the governorship slot is concerned.”

Among those who signed the letter were Prof. Wande Abimbola, Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu, Prof. Sulaiman Gbadegesin, Dr. Adesokan Ojebode, Prof. Nurain Tanimowo, Mr. Dokun Alagbe, Dr Akin Onigbinde and retired General Kunle Togun.

Since 1983, the group pointed out, Ibadan had produced Omololu Olunloyo, Kolapo Ishola, Lamidi Adesina, Rashidi Ladoja, Abiola Ajimobi, and the incumbent Makinde as governors.

They therefore called on all political parties in the state to ensure that their 2027 governorship candidates emerge from the non-Ibadan zones of Ogbomoso, Oyo, Ibarapa, and Oke-Ogun.

They noted that the only non-Ibadan indigene to emerge governor was the late Adebayo Alao-Akala from Ogbomoso, who governed between May 2007 and May 2011.

The letter read, “A cursory look at the pattern of governorship candidates and elections in other South-West states has revealed that, contrary to the winner-takes-all situation in Oyo State, no particular zone has been dominating the political landscape of their respective states.

“All told, the voting pattern in Oyo State has consistently shown that only 30 per cent of the voting population in Ibadan are Ibadan indigenes. The implication of this is that the remaining 70 per cent belong to the other zones of the state as well as non-indigenes of Oyo State.”

They urged Ibadan indigenes to abandon what they termed an uncompromising posture and, in the interest of “justice, peaceful co-existence, equity, and fairness,” ensure that candidates from the 22 LGAs outside Ibadan produce the next governor.

“We, on behalf of the 22 local government areas outside Ibadan in the state, are determined to make the following changes: that all political parties in the state should support this peaceful and legitimate demand of the remaining four zones in the state by ensuring that their respective parties nominate governorship candidates from among the 22 local government areas for the 2027 general election.

“That you prevail on your political platform to make this a reality and a realisable objective in the interest of all.

“While we are not oblivious of the fact that you belong to different political platforms, apart from our current interest in rotating the governorship seat in Oyo State, as a neutral body, we wish every platform success in the forthcoming general election in 2027.

“However, we would be earnestly delighted to give our unflinching support to those who support this, our only aspiration.

“In thanking you for giving thoughts to this, our humble consideration, we are confident that your intervention, as the leaders of your various platforms, would soften the hearts of our Ibadan co-compatriots on this vexed issue,” the letter read.

Citing examples from neighbouring states, the group further argued that governors of Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States were typically not indigenes of the state capitals, unlike in Oyo, where Ibadan has largely dominated the governorship.

“For instance, since the creation of Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States, apart from rotating the governorship slot, no indigene of the state capitals—Akure, Osogbo, and Ado-Ekiti—has been elected governor of these three states. The citizens of the state capital have always ensured that the governor comes from outside the state capital. In Ogun State, the slot oscillates between the Egbas and the Ijebus.

“Even at the federal level, if the North had weaponised its famed voting population, no Southerner would have emerged as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is where the seeming uncompromising posture of Ibadan becomes an issue,” the letter read.

Politics

FULL TEXT: Tinubu Ends State Of Emergency In Rivers State

Published

13 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

My Fellow countrymen and, in particular, the good people of Rivers State.

I am happy to address you today on the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State. You will recall that on 18th March, 2025, I proclaimed a state of emergency in the state. In my proclamation address, I highlighted the reasons for the declaration. The summary of it for context is that there was a total paralysis of governance in Rivers State, which had led to the Governor of Rivers State and the House of Assembly being unable to work together. Critical economic assets of the State, including oil pipelines, were being vandalised.

The State House of Assembly was crisis-ridden, such that members of the House were divided into two groups. Four members worked with the Governor, while 27 members opposed the Governor. The latter group supported the Speaker. As a result, the Governor could not present any Appropriation Bill to the House, to enable him to access funds to run Rivers State’s affairs.

That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the State to a standstill. Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the Executive and the Legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, held that there was no government in Rivers State. My intervention and that of other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the conflict proved abortive as both sides stuck rigidly to their positions to the detriment of peace and development of the State.

It therefore became painfully inevitable that to arrest the drift towards anarchy in Rivers State, I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to proclaim the state of emergency. The Offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and elected members of the State House of Assembly were suspended for six months in the first instance. The six months expire today, September 17th, 2025.

I thank the National Assembly, which, after critically evaluating the justification for the proclamation, took steps immediately, as required by the Constitution, to approve the declaration in the interest of peace and order in Rivers State. I also thank our traditional rulers and the good people of Rivers State for their support from the date of the declaration of the state of emergency until now.

I am not unaware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, to invalidate the declaration. That is the way it should be in a democratic setting. Some cases are still pending in the courts as of today. But what needs to be said is that the power to declare a state of emergency is an inbuilt constitutional tool to address situations of actual or threatened breakdown of public order and public safety, which require extraordinary measures to return the State to peace, order and security.

Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State, as shown in the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disputes between the Executive and the Legislative arm of Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation.

As a stakeholder in democratic governance, I believe that the need for a harmonious existence and relationship between the executive and the legislature is key to a successful government, whether at the state or national level.

The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders.

I am happy today that, from the intelligence available to me, there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm on the part of all the stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance. This is undoubtedly a welcome development for me and a remarkable achievement for us. I therefore do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months I had pronounced at the beginning of it.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.

I take this opportunity to remind the Governors and the Houses of Assembly of all the States of our country to continue to appreciate that it is only in an atmosphere of peace, order, and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. I implore all of you to let this realisation drive your actions at all times.

I thank you all.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.