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By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC),Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has named Alhaji Kabir Ibrahim Masari as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.
Tinubu dropped Masari’s name as a “place holder,” ahead of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deadline for parties to submit the names of their candidates for the 2023 elections, Daily Trust reports.
According to the medium, sources in the camp of Tinubu and Masari confirmed this on Thursday evening.
The running mate of the APC presidential candidate hails from Masari, a village in Kafur Local Government Area of Katsina State.
He is the kinsman of the state governor, Aminu Masari.
The running mate of the APC presidential candidate served as the National Welfare Secretary of the ruling party during the tenure of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as national chairman.
He was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the era of late President Umaru Musa YarÁdua.
After the death of YarÁdua in 2010, Masari defected to the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), the party under which President Muhammadu Buhari contested but lost the 2011 presidential election.
Ahead of the 2015 election, CPC collapsed its structure into APC and Masari joined the ruling party.
There are reports that Tinubu would replace Masari before the election as he only dropped his name to meet INEC’s deadline.
“Tinubu is still consulting widely on the choice of his running mate. He would replace Masari as soon as the right candidate is selected,” the medium quoted a source to have said.
Former vice president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday named Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State as his running mate for the 2023 election.
