President Bola Tinubu and VP Kashim Shettima
The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru, has clarified that the party’s presidential candidate, President Bola Tinubu, will decide on his running mate after the national convention.
Basiru made this known on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme, stating that the question of a running mate is not yet on the table.
“As far as we are concerned, the national summit held in the Presidential Villa has endorsed Mr. President based on his track record, and a large spectrum of stakeholders in our party have also overwhelmingly given endorsement to Mr. President,” Basiru said.
“The question of running mate is not yet onboard, and nobody has come to say that the president has made any adverse decision as regards the present vice president.”
The APC national secretary emphasized that the running mate issue will be decided after the party’s convention, which is usually held about a year before the general election.
“What I know is that even at the national convention where a candidate for the presidential election will emerge, it is only the presidential candidate that will emerge at the convention. The running mate issue will be done after that.”
Basiru’s comments come after a recent summit in Gombe State, where some members protested the omission of Vice President Kashim Shettima’s name in the endorsement of Tinubu as the party’s sole candidate for re-election in 2027.
The APC national secretary, who was physically present at the summit, described the incident as a manifestation of different opinions in a democratic setting.
“Some people in the North East felt that it suffice to give endorsement to the president, and then the president will be in a position to decide who would be his running mate in 2027,” Basiru explained.
“Some other people are of the view that it is also important that since the summit is being held in the North East, the vice president, coming from the North-East, should equally have an endorsement.”
The APC’s endorsement process has sparked discussions about the party’s nomination process for the 2027 presidential election. The party’s governors have already unanimously endorsed Tinubu for re-election, but the issue of his running mate remains unresolved.
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