THE CHOICE OF THE VP CANDIDATE: ITS EFFECT ON VOTING DEMOGRAPHICS

In the past few days, both the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi and the APC candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) chose their running mates. Mr. Obi a Christian from the South chose Dr. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, a Muslim from the northern state of Kaduna while BAT chose a Mr. Kashim Shettima, a Muslim, a former governor of Borno state. While the power to choose a running mate resides with the presidential candidate and the party, the populace cannot be left out. Though, this election for obvious reasons, seems to be between BAT who is running on the platform of the "misruling" party, APC and Mr. Peter Obi who has won the hearts of many Nigerians and seems to be the people's choice, their choices of VP candidate will either add further credence to their candidacy or will take away the little they have, or at least in some quarters. Taking away sentiments, tribal, religious or party, Mr. Peter Obi's choice seems to be the better and more generally acceptable. Nigeria being a multi-ethnic nation with citizens majorly being either Christians or Muslims, it is pertinent to balance both religion and ethnicity in something as important as a presidential bid. Peter Obi has done just that and in doing that, he proves that these two (2) factors shouldn't be the only criteria. Peter Obi's choice buttresses the point that no nation, religion or tribe has the monopoly of intelligent, successful and competent people. We have intelligent and competent people everywhere and it's only normal to engage them to represent us instead of making such important choices on the basis of ethnicity and religion. Dr. Baba-Ahmed who's an economist and founder of Africa's biggest private hospital, Baze hospital has definitely succeeded in the private sector just like Mr. Obi. He also compliments Mr. Obi's quality as a competent leader. Dr. Baba-Ahmed like Mr. Peter Obi has won the hearts of Nigerians with his sterling record. He has gone ahead in the footsteps of Mr. Obi to grant interviews and engage with the media in the few days of his nomination, creating the much needed visibility he, Mr. Obi and the Labour party should have. It has also endeared him to a lot of Nigerians as it makes him and Mr. Obi have this air of accessibility, as is uncommon with other candidates. BAT on the other hand obviously didn't choose a Christian northerner as running mate because he wouldn't have the popularity to get him votes in the North as the North is predominantly Muslim. He rather picked a Muslim just like himself. This makes his candidacy appeal to mainly those of his tribe and religious demography. A larger spread of Nigerians do not buy into his candidacy now that the identity of his final choice for a running has been confirmed. Various bodies have already come out to warn and state their disagreements with his choice of a muslim-muslim ticket. Despite what anyone says, we can't take away these sentiments of tribe and religion in our politics as a nation. It is common sense to keep things balanced as Nigeria is a nation with heightened ethno-religious sentiments which can denigrate at anytime with the slightest provocation. Whatever the case, the election of 2023 is going to be a tightly contested one but how will the choices of VP candidates sway the voters?

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