The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Ahmed Tinubu said he has submitted the name of his running mate for the 2023 Presidential election to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, made the disclosure in a statement issued on Friday.
He said he “has returned his duly completed nomination nomination forms to INEC. The forms were returned on Wednesday June 15, two days ahead of schedule.
“We wish to reiterate that HE Asíwájú Tinubu stands ready to contest the February 25, 2023 presidential election to deliver progressive good governance to our people.”
Tinubu, however, did not disclose the name of his running mate.
INEC mandates all political parties to submit names of candidates for presidential and governorship elections with the names of vice presidential candidate and deputy governorship candidate.
The Guardian had reported that Tinubu and APC leaders resolved to pick one Kabir Ibrahim Masari, a Katsina politician, as a placeholder for his running mate to beat INEC deadline, according to sources.
Masari is a former National Welfare Secretary of the APC during the era of the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole- led NWC, was nominated pending the conclusion of the consultation on the issue of running of mate by various APC groups.
Sources told The Guardian that APC will withdraw Masari’s name and replace it with the tentative running mate for Tinubu in 2023 presidential election later.
The presidential candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar on Thursday announced Delta State governor Ifeanyi Okowa as his running mate.
Okowa pledged to support the party’s candidate Atiku in ensuring that power returns to the PDP.
Atiku said making a choice between the three names had been a difficult decision.
He noted that some of the qualities he looked out for include someone who understands the enormity of the challenges facing the country and one who has demonstrated, from experience, that he can proffer some solutions.
