Lagos – The presidential candidate for Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Sunday chose a Muslim former governor as his running mate for the 2023 election.
Africa’s most populous nation is gearing up for a presidential election in February 2023.
President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down after two terms, in line with the constitution.
The two main contenders for the top job are veteran political operator Bola Tinubu of the APC and former vice president Atiku Abubakar of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In previous elections, presidential candidates from the largely Muslim north have selected a vice-presidential running mate from the predominantly Christian south, and vice versa.
Last month Abubakar, a Muslim from the north, picked a Christian from the south as his vice-presidential hopeful.
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Tinubu, also a Muslim, chose a dummy or placeholder candidate in order to meet the selection deadline.
But on Sunday he said the dummy candidate had withdrawn and announced Kashim Shettima, a 63-year-old Muslim from the northeastern state of Borno, would be his running mate.
Shetima is a former governor of Borno state, where jihadists have waged a 13-year uprising that has killed 40 000 people and displaced 2.2 million been displaced.
Tinubu, 70, is a former governor of Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial hub.
A leading figure in the APC, he was instrumental in helping Buhari win the presidential election in 2015 after three unsuccessful bids.
Buhari’s victory over incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP was the first time in Nigeria that a sitting head of state had lost the election.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@OfficialAPCNg
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