2023: Choice of APC running mate rests with Tinubu – Uzodinma

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, on Tuesday slammed those kicking against Muslim-Muslim ticket in the 2023 presidential.

The choice of running mates by the presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Atiku Abubakar, has dominated public discourse in the last few days with majority of Nigerians expressing reservation about pairing of two individuals of same faith by the two parties.

Uzodimma ,who spoke with State House correspondents after a meeting between the APC governors and President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the controversy being generated over the choice of the running mate for Tinubu was not necessary.

He added that the choice of a running mate for the APC presidential candidate would take into considerations all the indices that would promote fairness and unity of the country and not religion or faith alone.

The governor said what matters in elections are the numbers and not the religion of the candidates, adding that the choice of a running mate rests purely on Tinubu.

READ ALSO: Buhari meets APC governors over Tinubu’s running mate

Uzodinma said: “We are looking for a united Nigeria, where governance will be the issue, where a president would be judged by his capacity to deliver democratic dividends, and develop Nigeria to look like other parts of the Western world where democracy is working.

“I don’t want us to reduce governance in Nigeria to certain things that will encourage divisiveness, rather, we should be a united Nigeria, be our brother’s keepers, have a president of Nigeria that will be a president representing every tribe, every religion, every denomination. And when we get there, we will cross the bridge.

“The decision also to choose a running mate does not reside with any of us the governors. It is the presidential candidate that will look at the local characteristics and every factor, political and apolitical, that will make him win his election and take the decision. So it’s not a decision that we will sit here and take for the candidate.

“There are internal characteristics that the decision maker may consider in the process of making his decision. The decision whether to choose Mr. A or Mr. B to be a running mate to a candidate is entirely that of the candidate.”

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