The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday met to consider a possible choice of running mate for General Muhammadu Buhari who won the presidential ticket of the party during its third national convention last Thursday.
Sources close to the party told our correspondent that Buhari had submitted the names of Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola and Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, to the party’s caucus for consideration.
The party leadership had met throughout Friday to deliberate on the choice, but was not able to pick from the nominees and hence postponed the meeting till monday 15th December 2014.
But another source told Forumspotz yesterday that the slot had been zoned to the South-South, adding that the names of Fashola, former Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi and Professor Yomi Osibajo, a former Commissioner of Justice under Bola Ahmed Tinubu, were being considered.
Although the outcome of the meeting was not made known at press time, a source confided in Forumspotz that the choice was being narrowed down between former Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State and Professor Osibajo. The running mate to Buhari is expected to be formally announced tomorrow.
However, Forumspotz has also authoritatively gathered that the camp of the strong man of the APC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has a preferred candidate in the person of former Lagos State Attorney-General, Professor Yemi Osibajo. The camp is pushing for Osibajo’s emergence as the party’s choice because it is believed he is not controversial and is also a popular Christian (a Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God).
The Tinubu camp’s calculation is to present a known Christian figure from the South West who is not a politician but a technocrat, for the Christians in the region to embrace the party before, during and after the presidential election.
“As it stands at the moment, stakeholders in the APC are into deep consultations and negotiations. They know Nigerians are eager to know who is Buhari’s running mate and the deadline for submission of parties’ presidential candidates and their running mates is close-by,” one of the sources disclosed.
Following General Buhari’s emergence during the presidential primaries of the APC last Thursday, there have been speculations in the media over who becomes his running mate.
