Sunday 13 April 2014

2015 presidential bid Buhari Denies Picking Tinubu as Running Mate

 by Fidelis Mac-Leva (Abuja), Misbahu Bashir, Kaduna

Former Head of State, retired General Muhammadu Buhari

. Other Presidential Aspirants Are Left Guessing
. PDP Behind Muslim-Muslim -Ticket Rumour - Alhaji Argungu
Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Head of State, retired General Muhammadu Buhari has described as false, media reports saying that his party had sealed a deal to pair him with former Lagos state Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as running mate for the party’s presidential ticket in 2015.         
There have been speculations in recent times, particularly in the media, that power brokers within the party hierarchy have concluded plans to present a Muslim/Muslim ticket for the 2015 presidential election; a development that has sparked controversy.
Reacting to the matter, however, Buhari’s media aide, Malam Ya’u Darazau, said APC did not plan to pick Tinubu as a running mate to General Buhari in the 2015 presidential election, adding that the three time presidential candidate has not made up his mind about the 2015 contest.
Yau’ Darazu said the rumour making the rounds over a planned Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket by the APC was without foundation and should be ignore, as, according to him, the former Head of State was rather devoting much of his time trying to foster unity among party loyalists and Nigerians.
 He said: “Those who will be presidential and vice-presidential flag bearers will be named during the party’s convention. It is untrue that the General will have Tinubu as his running mate in the 2015 elections and the matter hasn’t even been discussed. The General and, indeed, other party leaders are trying to unite the party now and ensure the success of the congresses. We don’t know where and how the rumour emerged because convention has to be conducted before presidential candidate and his running mate is chosen and this has not yet been done.”
Although the interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed declined comment on who is likely to get the ticket, saying talking about the presidential ticket of the party now amounts to putting the cart before the Horse,  national publicity secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and chieftain of the APC, Osita Okechukwu said the speculation and reports over the presidential candidate of the party would be a surprise if the formation of APC in the first instance is anything to go by especially from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“The context emanates from the truism that the registration of APC on 31 July 2013, an outcome of the first consummation of merger of major political parties in the annals of our political history, has set the stage to propel our fledgling democracy to the zenith of liberal democracy. Naturally pundits and minders of the PDP are speculating and making all manner of permutations on the ticket of the APC, especially when the party draws large followership from the two prominent electoral zones - North West and South West”, he said.
Former Deputy Governor of Kebbi State and member of the state congress committee of the APC, Alhaji Suleiman Muhammed Argungu, said the purported Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in the party was the handiwork of the ruling PDP. 
DailyTrust

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