Yemi Osinbajo’s position as Vice President is not yet guaranteed in the forthcoming 2019 Presidential election in Nigeria.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari is still an aspirant and he can only nominate his running mate after winning the party’s primaries.
“There is a way these things are done. When was the Vice President nominated for the ticket? If you recall, it was in December 2014 after President Buhari won the party primary. It was done at the point of filing nomination form,” he said.
“As a matter of fact, the nomination form was filed with Vice President Osinbajo’s name less than 24 hours to the closure.
“I am not an expert in this matter but my sense is that candidates nominate running mates. President Buhari is not officially a candidate yet. He has just signified his intention to seek party nomination.”
Buhari officially declared his intention for re-election at the NEC meeting last Monday before he travelled to the United Kingdom.
“It is after winning the ticket that you will expect him to name his running mate for the contest. That’s the requirement, he can’t run alone,” Shehu added when responding to questions on whether or not Buhari would pick Osinbajo as his running mate for the 2019 election.
“Though I have not been briefed on this, this is my assumption. My view is that it is not the norm that you name a running mate when you are not a candidate.”
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