As the APC candidate has emerged, the next step is for the political party to nominate the vice-presidential candidate.
The general elections in Nigeria will hold in February 2023 according to the election body, INEC’s timetable. As the political party is required to select a name for the position of Vice President, who will be the running mate to Asiwaju Tinubu, the winner of the party’s presidential primary.
However, a lot of factors will be put into consideration before nominating the vice-presidential candidate of the party. This would not be an individual decision. A lot of consultations will be held among the major party stakeholders, to determine the candidate.
Sani Salihu, the APC political analyst has reported that the task of selecting the running late for Tinubu and the party would be very difficult, more than their opposition party, PDP, because the APC has three regions: North Central, North East, and North West to choose from.
He further disclosed that another reason the selection would be difficult was the fact that they would like the Vice Presidential candidate to be another Muslim like the Presidential candidate, Tinubu, as this would bring down the numbers of their likely voters.
Meanwhile, some names are being considered to be in the running for the vice-presidential ticket in the party. They are:
Simon Lalung, the Plateau State Governor who is from North Central and has won the senatorial ticket for Plateau South in the recent primaries.
George Akume, the former Governor of Benue state, another North central Candidate, has served 8 years in tenure as the Governor of Benue. He is the minister of special duties and intergovernmental affairs. He also contested for APC chairmanship before Abdullahi Adamu emerged the winner. As a Christian, he stands a chance of being nominated for vice president.
Nasir El-Rufai, the Kaduna state Governor
Babagana Zulum, the Borno state Governor has already bought the governorship ticket for the next year’s election. Nonetheless, certain political analysts say that things may change because the North Eastern candidate has a lot of influence in the APC. But unfortunately, just like El-Rufai, Barrister Zulum is a Muslim and this might serve as a problem if he gets nominated.
