A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, has disclosed that the party picked Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate in the 2015 general elections to guarantee a religiously balanced ticket.
Tinubu stated this in Abuja on Monday during the presentation/launch of a book, “Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria”, authored by a professor of International Studies, John Paden.
The Jagaban of Borgu explained that: “There was the issue of selecting Buhari’s running mate. After a careful study and discussion, it was agreed that we should field a religiously balanced ticket given the sensitivity of the moment. Based upon this conclusion, the name of a renowned professor, Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of law and former Lagos State Attorney-General during my tenure as governor was proposed and accepted as the running mate”.
Asiwaju who was also the reviewer of the book noted that picking Osinbajo was to silent people tagging President Buhari as a religious bigot.
“Osinbajo was also a pastor in the largest church in the entire country and this would answer those who had wrongfully tried to paint and present Muhammadu Buhari as intolerant religiously. From this event, you can see a portrait of a president as a democrat more adept than many would think.”