Peter Obi – Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, yesterday, raised hope on the possibility of teaming up with his Labour Party counterpart, Mr Peter Obi, to contest the 2023 general elections. Kwankwaso spoke on a day Peter Obi was said to be considering a young northerner as his running mate for the 2023 election.
Meanwhile, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, at the weekend, intensified his search for substantive vice presidential candidate. Both Peter Obi and Tinubu had, on Friday, named running mates in placeholding capacities to beat the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deadline for the submission of the names of those on presidential tickets of all parties.
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Whereas Tinubu named Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari as his placeholder running mate, Peter Obi picked Dr Doyin Okupe.
The candidates have up till August, according to the INEC schedule, to substitute the placeholder nominees with substantive vice presidential candidates.
Speaking on the potential coalition with Peter Obi in an interview with the BBC Hausa, yesterday, Kwankwaso said: “Yes, we are discussing with Peter Obi, or I will rather say a committee is working to see all that is necessary on teaming up with him, and our friends and relations have been coming to talk to us over the issue.
”The former governor of Kano State explained that their teaming up is important, looking at the fact that the APC and PDP did not pick their vice-presidential candidates from the Igbo.
But Okupe, who is also the Director-General of Peter Obi’s Presidential Campaign organisation, spoke on a television programme in Lagos at the weekend, saying the ultimate goal of his principal was to find a way to bring the dream and aspiration of handing over power to young Nigerians.
“We are considering someone much less in age to Obi and of northern descent as the running mate to Peter Obi ahead of the 2023 presidential election”, he added.
