Muhammadu Buhari, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has conceded the picking of his running mate to Bola Tinubu, national leader of the party, TheCable reports
This has in effect diminished the chances of Chibuike Amaechi, governor of Rivers state, who was all along tipped to be the vice-presidential candidate. Further discussions are going to be held this weekend, but a quick decision may not be reached.
The party still has up till December 18 to submit the name of the nominee to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Buhari’s decision to give Tinubu the slot is apparently based on the voting population of the south-west which he is banking on to upstage the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 presidential election. “Politics is not winner-takes-all.
Tinubu worked round the clock to deliver a huge chunk of votes to Buhari in the primary, and it is only fair that he is honoured in return,” an aide to Buhari told TheCable. Tinubu, TheCable can further report, has not foreclosed the choice of anyone as the VP candidate, but he is opposed to Amaechi – although the Rivers governor has made the biggest financial contribution to Buhari’s campaign.
An APC chieftain from the south-west told TheCable: “Rumours that Amaechi has been chosen as the running mate are not true in any form. The running mate will be announced soon.” The chieftain further told TheCable: “If the party exco settles for a Muslim/Muslim ticket, Tinubu himself will be the number one choice. If not, then Adams Oshiomhole stands the best chance among the rest.”
He ruled out Babatunde Fashola, governor of Lagos, who is also a Muslim. TheCable has now installed Oshiomhole, Edo governor, as the odds-on favourite for the running mate slot, slashing his chances from 8/10 to 8/9, while dropping Amaechi’s odds from 9/10 to 5/10.
