5 Arguments Raised Against Tinubu’s Choice Of Running Mate Apart From Being A Muslim

After weeks of speculations, rumours and denials, presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu finally settled for Senator Kashim Shettima, the immediate past governor of Borno state as his running mate.

Tinubu made the announcement during his Salah visit to president Muhammadu Buhari at his Daura hometown on Sunday.

Since the announcement of Senator Shettima as vice presidential candidate, Nigerians especially APC members have been expressing mixed feelings on his choice. Basically there are five major arguments raised in the public that may either make or mar the decision.

The first argument is Tinubu’s decision to abandon the North West part of the region that usually turn out about 20% vote in every presidential election. In 2019, about 24% of votes were delivered for president Muhammadu Buhari from the North West.

States like Kaduna, Kano and Katsina are known to be the largest voting bloc in the North. But as it is, those states have been left for all the political parties as battle ground. 

Tinubu picked a running mate from the Northeast that doesn’t yield more than only 11% vote of the entire North. Many Nigerians believe it is a huge risk on the part of APC to have looked away from the zones with a massive vote bloc in chosing the running mate.

The second argument is that APC and Bola Tinubu have just shown that there is no Christian in the North that is qualified enough to be vice presidential candidate of the Party. In Kaduna alone, there are about 30-40% Christian population. So are some other states in the North. 

Governor Simeon Lalong of Plateau state, former House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara and some other Chieftains of the party from the North were said to have been initially considered for the postion. 

But they were later sidelined for Shettima on the basis of competence while other aggrieved party members describes it as a reward for loyalty over competence . Does it now mean that there are no other competent christian APC members in the North?

The third argument is the choice of a former governor and not a serving Governor. Many Nigerians have expected Tinubu to pick a serving Governor who has an executive power and can easily penetrate other governors colleagues for alliance that will translate into vote on election day. 

The choice of a former governor was said not to have gone down well with some of the Northern governors.

The fourth argument is the idea that we are in the spirit of 1993 when MKO Abiola who was a Southern Muslim picked Babagana Kingibe, a Northern Muslim from the north. The ticket sailed through but the election was eventually annulled by the former military president, Ibrahim Babangida.

What many Nigerians are saying is that what happened in 1993 is far different from what is happening now. The mood and situation have changed. 

Finally, in 2015, Tinubu was dropped for professor Yemi Osinbajo as Buhari’s running mate because of Muslim Muslim debate. If such decision could be taken then, which eventually worked for them, what then has now changed this time?

These are argument against the choice of Kashim Shettima as Tinubu’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election.