By Seun Opejobi

All is now set for the 2023 presidential election with the emergence of Kashim Shettima as the running mate of Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate.

Tinubu officially announced Shettima, a former Governor of Borno State as his running mate on Sunday.

DAILY POST observed that Shettima’s emergence negates the call by many political stakeholders in the country, who are agitating for a Northern Christian presidential running mate.

Rather than bend to the call, Tinubu opted for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

While Tinubu opted for a Muslim-Muslim ticket, other presidential candidates like Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, settled for what could be termed a balanced ticket.

Atiku, a Northern Muslim, picked Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State – a Christian, while Obi picked a Northern Muslim as his running mate.

Deji Adeyanju, an Abuja-based socio-political commentator, spoke on how these running mates would make or mar the chances of their respective candidates.

Tinubu: Shettima’s strength:

Adeyanju said: “From a religious point of view, Shettima is a strong pick, though he has a lot of issues hanging on his neck like that of Chibok. Many believed he staged the Chibok issue; he has Boko Haram questions hanging around his neck; he once said if he speaks about Boko Haram, the country would explode. He is yet to speak even when many of us have begged him to speak.

“However, looking at voting patterns in the country, it’s a given that he is going to deliver Borno. Because of such considerations, I think he strengthens Tinubu’s ticket because he has a lot of friends in the North who are politicians. Politics is about reaching out and negotiating with people, and he has it.”

Shettima’s Weakness

Pointing out Shettima’s weakness, he said: “Ideally, if this was a country where people’s perception is taken to the polling units, Shettima would mar Tinubu’s presidential bid due to his several remarks in the past. The audio of him and Amosun is online, where he was completely condemning the Igbos and saying derogatory things against them. We can’t have such a person as a Vice President, but such things don’t matter; anybody can be president. Look at the kind of thing Buhari said before he became president; he was against delisting Boko Haram as a terrorist group and spoke about the Islamization of Nigeria, but he became president. We have not elevated political conversations to that level where things like that will make or mar candidates, and it’s unfortunate that we are not yet there.”

Atiku: Okowa’s strength

Like Shettima, Adeyanju said Okowa “will deliver Delta State to Atiku because that is where he comes from and the South-south has that sympathy for the ticket. I believe he would make the ticket progressive in that region of the country.”

Okowa’s weakness

He said: “Because of the friction in PDP over the running mate issue, and to a larger extent, the party is still unable to get their acts together after the primaries, as a fall out of the VP pick, this may work against Atiku in the Southern part.”

Peter Obi: Datti Baba-Ahmed’s strength

The rights activist said Baba-Ahmed is a good pick for Obi’s ticket.

He, however, said the accomplished academic lacks the political sagacity to help Obi win the 2023 presidential election.

“He is a fantastic intellectual and is somebody who will make a good minister of education considering what he has done in his private practice and personal life.

Weakness
“However, he is not a good pick for Vice President because, politically speaking, he comes from a State where he can’t deliver his local government to Peter Obi. Obi is not a strong candidate in the race; as an underdog coming on the platform of an unknown party without structure, they needed to do a strong pick like Kwankwaso, who has a State like Kano. That was why I was disappointed when they couldn’t reach a consensus. Politically speaking, I don’t see the ticket as being strong; the Datti Baba-Ahmed ticket is a weak one in my view,” he said.

“Datti Baba-Ahmed is a weak candidate, he is not bringing much to the table,” he added.

On its part, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, alleged discrimination against Christians.

Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, Media Assistant to the CAN President, Rev Dr Samson Ayokunle, said the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket was a slap on Christians in the country.

Speaking with DAILY POST, Oladeji lamented that APC’s choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket was an indication that Christians are incompetent to be Vice President.

He hinted that Christians may vote against APC during the presidential election.

Oladeji said: “We are being discriminated against, it’s a slap and a slight on us; telling us that there is no competent person among the Christians for the role of the VP.

“In the Northern States, we have former Head of States, former Ministers, former governors, those who have held key posts in this country and have never failed. We have SGF, serving and former.

“And they are telling us that we are not competent with all these calibre of people? This is our concern. We need a leader that will promote peace and unity in our country.

“If you say we are not competent to be number two, then our votes are not competent for you.”

https://dailypost.ng/2022/07/13/2023-how-tinubu-atiku-peter-obis-choices-of-running-mates-may-decide-presidential-election/

When you come to the issue of running mates, Peter Obi stands at a major advantage. His choice ticked the religious diversity box, ethnic diversity box, ticks the young and energetic box and also ticks the education and integrity box.

Coming to Atiku, his choice ticks all the boxes too, but Okowa is a featherweight when you come to regional politics, he cannot influence the votes of anyone in Delta, not to talk of the whole south south, and Wike will just eat him raw.

Coming to the issue of Tinubu running mate, what else can I say, when mass resignations and demolition of party structures and even party offices has become the reaction of many APC staunch members, this one is a major VP drawback, a dead weight that will drag down the ship of APC all the way to the elections and beyond.

Toh

So one of the VP is not sure of delivering his local government.
Opari.

May we not labour in vain oo.

It's going to be a tough race

They will not listen if you tell them that Obi is a weak candidate

Obi/datti will win. Adeyanju have only one vote and his analysis are wrong. Nigerians are not looking for a politician this time but for someone who can turn the fortunes of the common man on the street around. This is where peter obi strength and structure lies in, the common man on the streets.
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No too much story, only fools are supporting the same failure that put the country in this shambles...

Among them are the paid urchins, they are all seated in their so called campaign media houses in front of a computer, creating threads and commenting with their other numerous monikers, sweating under AC with their supervisor, their conscience dead because of the 30k they will collect at the end of the month.


Only thing they have to campaign with is tribal card, shouting IPOB and Biafra everywhere like ileya *oats

Shetima is everything wrong...
Tinubu's greed that made him pick a divisive wicked muslim-muslim ticket is everything wrong to sane Nigerians.
APC government has failed humanity and God.

Shetima is a Boko Haram sympathiser that housed Kabiru Sokoto one of the Boko Haram commander in government house when Jonathan's Government was looking for him.

A muslim-muslim ticket is devilish and must be aborted by well thinking Nigeria.
Long live the federal republic of Naija

The APC apologist here keeps saying"it's all about competence" when they are trying to justify the Muslim Muslim ticket.

Can they really point out Shettima's achievement as Governor and as a senator.... What bills has he sponsored, authored or co-authored?

That's if we are trying to overlook his ties to Boko Haram.

What u guys should know is that Tinubu is a master strategist. He knows Christian North will never deliver and the best calculation is to play Muslim/Muslim card despite we know Christians south won't like this. Like it or hate it, Kwankwaso will finally step down for Tinubu for ministerial post and that alone will put Atiku and Obi in limbo. The votes of South is already divided cos the stronghold of PDP is south east and south south. At the end of the day, the permutation favour Tinubu. That's the reality, take it or leave it

Facts cannot lie and anyone trying to unsurp this project go collect enough. The spirit of endsars is upon us already.

What Tinubu and the APC did in presenting a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the presidential elections may not be against the constitution, but it is very insensitive. It's like Atiku and Kwankwaso being joined together in a ticket (if they succeed with the Muslim-Muslim ticket, they may experiment this also), no southern will vote for them(and I don't expect any Christian to vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket).

The best thing that can happen to Nigeria right now if for INEC to disqualify APC from the presidential elections. They are too much of a distraction from what is important to us as a nation at the moment.

Save this space, APC WILL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

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Where will the votes come from if Tinubu did not choose Muslim northern? igbos are his sworn enemies just because he is Yoruba, they hate him because he is a Yoruba with political prowess

Na tinubu do mistake Carry Muslim Muslim ticket, na Ip0b supporters of Peter obi dey cry and wail

Cc: my nigga

Ok

That would be wonderful

Segzy22:
They will not listen if you tell them that Obi is a weak candidate

And your father is a strong candidate?

Yes. Atiku picked his running mate, the decision divided PDP, people became angry and left the party. Tinubu picked his own, the decision divided APC, people became angry and left the party but Peter Obi picked his running mate and there was joy everywhere. Think about it. By the way;

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Deji Mr analyzer Y not allow him and let's what happens in 2023 election

How would you explain to your kids and anyone that your president was and is a drug pusher

Get sense, Tinubu is rejected home and abroad.

The battle is between PDP and labour party.