Atiku Reveals Why He Rejected Tinubu As Running Mate

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has revealed how he rejected an offer for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to become his running mate, saying he opposed a Muslim-Muslim ticket because it was not in the best interest of Nigeria.

Atiku disclosed this in a Hausa-language video interview shared on X while recounting his political relationship with Tinubu and the events surrounding the 2007 and 2015 presidential elections.

He said after emerging as the presidential candidate, Tinubu sent five elders, including former Foreign Affairs Minister Tom Ikimi and former Osun State Governor Bisi Akande, to persuade him to accept Tinubu as his running mate.

According to Atiku, the delegation informed him that Tinubu wanted to serve as his vice-presidential candidate.

Atiku said he rejected the proposal, insisting that he could not support a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

He said, “He said he would back me to secure the ticket. After I got the ticket, he sent five elders among them Tom Ikimi, Bisi Akande and three others. They told me that Tinubu wanted to be my running mate.

“I told them that, as Christians they should understand that it was inappropriate for me to pick a Muslim as my running mate.

“I asked them why they could not tell him that. I told them that I could not accept a Muslim-Muslim ticket, because it would not be of the best interest of our country.”

Atiku said Tinubu subsequently broke away and supported the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, adding that the two remained in different political camps until 2014.

He recalled that after the APC presidential primary in 2014, then-presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari visited him in Abuja to seek his support for the 2015 election.

According to Atiku, Buhari told him he had won the party’s primary but needed his support to defeat the incumbent government.

Atiku said he agreed to support Buhari on one condition: that he would not choose Tinubu as his running mate because of the proposed Muslim-Muslim ticket.

He said Buhari considered the condition for about five minutes before assuring him that he would not pick Tinubu.

Atiku further explained that Tinubu later sent emissaries to Buhari to ask about the agreement, becoming upset after learning that Buhari had agreed not to choose him as running mate.

He said Tinubu subsequently suggested that Buhari pick his wife, who is a Christian, as his running mate, but Buhari rejected the proposal because he did not want a female running mate.

According to Atiku, the disagreement eventually involved clerics before Tinubu agreed to the choice of Yemi Osinbajo, who was then Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, as Buhari’s running mate.

“Clerics were involved in the ensuing disagreement, but in the end, Tinubu was convinced to nominate Osibanjo who was his Attorney-General and a Christian and Buhari accepted the nomination,” Atiku said.

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