The All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Bola Tinubu has named Kabiru Masari as his running mate for the 2023 elections.
A chieftain of the party Kabiru Faskari said this during an interview. “Ibrahim Kabiru Masari is our vice presidential nominee. He was the Welfare Secretary of the APC under Oshiomhole (former national chairman of the party),” he said during the show on Friday. “He is a well-known politician in Kaduna State and his name has been submitted.”
Faskari explained that picking Kabiru, who hails from Katsina State, does not violate the country’s laws as against the clamour for a Muslim/Christian APC ticket.
According to him, Kabiru is experienced, close to Tinubu, and will not have a problem working with the former Lagos State governor.
“He is young; he represents the youths and is grounded in politics and was even a national official of the APC. He is quite close to the presidential candidate and has been with him for a very long time,” he explained. “It is a very informed decision to put out his name.”
He said the decision followed wide consultations and that the party needs a person from a region with a large voting population.
“I think what it is is that it was the decision of the presidential candidate after due diligence,” the APC chieftain added.
The APC, it is believed is putting Kabiru as a placeholder to beat the deadline given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for presidential candidates to submit the names of their running mates.
INEC had given a Friday, June 17th, deadline for the submission of the names.
Former presidential spokesperson Dr Doyin Okupe on Friday said he is ‘standing in’ as the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour party.
If his candidacy holds, he will run alongside Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential elections.
However, Dr Okupe might be a placeholder to beat INEC’s deadline for the submission of the name of a vice-presidential candidate.
The deadline ends today.
“Choosing the vice-presidential candidate is an electoral process and it does not stop until the process and schedule ends,” Dr Okupe said. “INEC allows you to present a candidate and later on, if you want to substitute, you may do so, if necessary. But if it’s not necessary, you may as well continue.
“So the present situation is that we believe that this Labour party government that is essentially going to be about young Nigerians. Those of us who have been part and parcel of our sordid past must be prepared to pay the sacrifice, even the personal sacrifice, of allowing a situation we can lift our youths to positions of power and authority.
“I am willing to put down my back, so that young people can stand and come to the top.”
