Buhari names Osinbajo as running mate

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has named a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, as the running mate of the APC presidential candidate, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.).

Buhari announced the choice of the party at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, after a long wait for the unveiling of the person who will run alongside the former Head of State in the 2015 presidential election.

Osinbajo served as justice commissioner during the tenure of former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and also a top pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

He came into the APC secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday in a black suit, a white shirt and a red tie.

Presenting his running mate, Buhari said he had picked a man of unquestionable character, a professional and an intellectual, whom he believed would discharge the duties expected of him with utmost diligence.

'I want to present to you a man of great character, a thorough professional, a man of high integrity, an intellectual and Nigeria's next Vice president,' he said.

Accepting the offer, Osinbajo, who said he was privileged to be offered the opportunity to serve as the running mate of the retired general, explained that he had consulted widely before taking on the task.

Osinbajo, a professor of Law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is also an in-law to the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, having married a grand daughter of the former Premier of the Western region.

The choice of who emerges as Buhari's running mate had generated intense debate and interest since the emergence of the former Head of State as the APC's flag bearer last Friday.

Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi; his Lagos State counterpart, Babatunde Fashola; the immediate former governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi ; Senator Chris Ngige and former National Chairman of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, had previously been tipped as likely candidate for the vice presidential slot.

It was also learnt that Amaechi would be named the Director General of the APC presidential campaign while veteran journalist and former Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Dele Alake, would be named to lead the media relations of the party. – Punch.