APC 2023: How the issue of choosing a running mate could affect Tinubu’s chances

As the 2023 presidential election draws closer, the battle to replace President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to make headlines on different print and social media. It will interest you to note that the national leader of the All Progressives Congress APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the major contender for the exalted position in the country. It should be recalled that he was the first man to publicly declare his interest to succeed president Buhari in 2023. While the two terms former governor of Lagos State has revealed that becoming the president of Nigeria is his lifelong ambition, it seems like he may have serious challenges achieving his dreams.

One of the major problems Tinubu may encounter is choosing his running mate in the 2023 presidential election. Since Religion has a way of shaping politics in Nigeria, as a Muslim from the South West, it is expected that Tinubu would pick his running mate from the Christian community in the North. There are calls on him to look for his deputy from the core North and beyond that, he should pick a Muslim. The advocates of this move are citing the Abiola/Kingibe ticket in the 1990s. A Muslim-Muslim ticket can’t work in Nigeria, it should be recalled, that was why the APC in 2015 refused to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

The major opposition party PDP will be waiting to capitalize on Tinubu’s moves. The first option implies that in the event the PDP picks its flag bearer from the North and the running mate from the South, they would give the APC a run for their money. Nigerians and even the APC would never agree to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Since the APC is trying to retain power, they may likely want a Christian President from the South and pick a vice president from the core North. If they decide to go with this option, Tinubu’s presidential ambition could be at stake.

Do you think that Tinubu’s presidential ambition would be realized in 2023?