Babajide Otitoju finally reacts after some parties submitted VP placeholder slots to INEC

On the program Issues With Jide on TVC, the host asked Babajide Kolade Otitoju if it is a new phenomenon for parties to pick placeholder instead of their real running mates.

Babajide Otitoju said “It is not entirely new, but we saw more of it this time than in previous years. It is just more of the inability of flagbearers of parties to decide in good time. Politicians got a long notice from INEC in terms of INEC’s calendar and timetable.

There’s no reason in the world why a politician shouldn’t determine his running mate quickly, even before you make up your mind to contest, you ought to have a running mate in mind but as we have seen, a lot of factors get involved, political parties, decision makers within the parties get involved, and every party wants to win, and somehow we have gone to the conclusion that a good running mate is crucial to the electoral victory.

What we are seeing is that standard bearers of the parties are taking their time, trying to arrive at the best possible running mate. In the case of the PDP, it didn’t waste time in conducting its primaries, it did not need the extension that INEC offered to the parties and it arrived at the choice of the Presidential flagbearer quickly ahead of the APC.

In this case again, they have also done the same thing. Atiku did not need a placeholder. As we have seen with the Senate President who got somebody to play the role of a placeholder for him and that person has refused to give up the ticket.

The APC has opted for a placeholder so that when INEC opens the window for substitution, they can then replace the placeholder with the person who would actually go into the presidential race with the standard bearer of the party. A few parties too have exercised that right to put a placeholder there just to meet the deadline.

All I am saying is that there is really no need for this (placeholder), what are they going to be doing between now and September when the window opens. It shouldn’t take that long to pick a running mate. I don’t understand why it has to take that long.

If the PDP could decide quickly, the APC must also do that. No matter who Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu picks as his running mate, those who will not agree with his choice will not agree”.