ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has given his account of rejecting an approach from then Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu to be his running mate, saying he could not accept a Muslim Muslim ticket because it would not serve the country’s interest.
Speaking in a Hausa language interview shared online, Atiku said Tinubu backed his push for the presidential ticket on the understanding that he would be considered as running mate, and later sent a delegation of elders, including Tom Ikimi and Bisi Akande, to press the case on his behalf. Atiku said he told the delegation, as fellow Christians, that picking a Muslim running mate was not something he could do, and suggested they relay that view to Tinubu directly rather than leave it to him. He said Tinubu then moved his support to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, and the two men found themselves in separate political camps until 2014.
Atiku recalled that ahead of the 2015 election, Muhammadu Buhari visited him after winning his party’s primary to ask for support in the general election, and that he agreed on one condition: no Muslim Muslim ticket. He said Buhari accepted after a few minutes of consideration. Atiku said Tinubu was upset to learn of the arrangement and, after his own bid to be running mate did not materialise, floated his wife as a possible pick since she is Christian, an idea Buhari turned down because he did not want a female running mate. After discussions involving religious leaders, Tinubu ultimately backed Yemi Osinbajo, then his attorney general and a Christian, for the role, and Buhari accepted the nomination.
