Tinubu dumps El-Rufai, Ganduje, shortlists governor, senator as running mate

<p><strong>The presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress &lpar;APC&rpar; for the 2023 election&comma; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;Openlife&period;ng">Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu<&sol;a>&comma; has reportedly rejected the chance to pick either Governor <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;Openlife&period;ng">Nasir El-Rufai<&sol;a> of Kaduna State or Governor <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;Openlife&period;ng">Abdullahi Ganduje<&sol;a> of Kano State as his running mate&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Tinubu&comma; a former Lagos State Governor&comma; has reportedly zeroed his search on Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State or his predecessor&comma; Senator Kashim Shettima&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It was gathered that Tinubu would return from France and announce his running mate before the July 15 deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission &lpar;INEC&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The APC presidential candidate&comma; who had limited his search to Borno&comma; Kano&comma; and Kaduna states&comma; with all the prospective running mates being Muslims&comma; dropped Nasir El-Rufai despite the active role in Tinubu’s emergence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>An ally of Tinubu told The PUNCH that the former governor is expected to consult on who he should pick between Zulum and Shettima when he returns from France&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The source said&comma;<em><strong> &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The race for the running mate for Asiwaju has been reduced to just two men&period; They are the Governor of Borno State&comma; Babagana Zulum&comma; and his predecessor&comma; Kashim Shettima&comma; who is the senator representing Borno Central Senatorial District&period; All things being equal&comma; the running mate should emerge between these two men&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Yes&comma; it is true that the Governor of Kaduna State&comma; Nasir El-Rufai&comma; was also being considered&period; He played an active role in Tinubu’s emergence&period; His support was one of the surprises among the many people that worked for him&period; If he &lpar;El-Rufai&rpar; is picked&comma; he actually deserves it&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Don’t forget that he is also an influential governor among his colleagues&comma; but I think it is beyond that&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The source revealed that Tinubu would return from France to face this issue of a running mate once and for all&comma; adding that the APC national leader will likely announce his running mate before Sallah&comma; which is on July 10&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h1><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;peter-obi-reacts-as-supporters-print-his-image-on-praying-mat&sol;">Peter Obi Reacts As Supporters Print His Image On Praying Mat <&sol;a><&sol;h1>&NewLine;<p>Another source&comma; a member of the House of Representatives&comma; told The PUNCH that the North-East is being favored for the running mate position to divide the votes of the Peoples Democratic Party &lpar;PDP&rpar; presidential candidate&comma; Atiku Abubakar&comma; who is from Adamawa State&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He said&comma; <em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The position is likely going to a serving governor either from the North-East or the North-West&period; But I think North-East is being favoured because the zone has yet to produce a President&comma; and we need to share the votes from the zone with Vice-President Atiku Abubakar&comma; who is from the zone&comma; and he is also the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If we pick Zulum&comma; the noise about a Muslim-Muslim ticket would reduce&period; I think the Christian community would accept him&period; He is hard-working and might be considered on merit by the people&period; Christians won’t mind supporting him&period; His name would resonate all over&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On the vice-presidential ambition of Ganduje&comma; the source said&colon;<em><strong> &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;No&comma; he is not being considered again&period; He wants it&comma; but he is no longer in the equation&period;”<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;