Nigeria’s ruling party picks ‘placeholder’ VP for 2023

• The move is a placeholder while discussions for the final pick continue.
• APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu from south, Atiku Abubakar from north.
• APC provisionally submitted the name of a vice presidential candidate

Nigeria ruling All Progressives Congress said Saturday it had provisionally submitted the name of a vice presidential candidate to comply with an initial deadline while discussions for the final pick continue.

Africa’s most populous nation is gearing up for presidential elections in February 2023, as President Muhammadu Buhari prepares to step down after completing his two terms authorized by the constitution.

The two main contenders vying for the top job are the veteran political operator Bola Tinubu of the APC and former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the opposition’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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In previous elections, when presidential candidates are from the largely Muslim north, the party selects a VP from the predominantly Christian south, or vice versa.

But for the APC, the selection is tricky this time as their presidential candidate, Tinubu, is a Muslim from the south.

Winning votes in the highly populated north is key but if the APC selects a northerner, the party will likely have a Muslim-Muslim ticket, which has never happened before.

On Saturday, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka told AFP that northern Muslim Kabiru Masari’s name had been submitted as vice presidential nominee.

“Hi name was submitted,” said Morka, before adding: “that name is a placeholder for that position.”

Naming a VP is “very important decision. One that must be made in full consultations with stakeholders which are continuing,” he said.

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While parties were expected to announce their VP candidates on Friday, they have until August 8 to submit nomination forms, according to the election commission’s electoral timeline.

The PDP, that selected a northern presidential candidate, Atiku, said on Thursday that it had picked a southerner as VP nominee: Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of the oil-producing southern Delta State.