Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections has reportedly, at the last minute, named Kabiru Masari as his running mate.

A chieftain of the party Kabiru Faskari said this during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“Ibrahim Kabiru Masari is our Vice-Presidential nominee. He was the Welfare Secretary of the APC under Oshiomhole (former national chairman of the party),” he said during the show on Friday.

“He is a well-known politician in Kaduna State and his name has been submitted.”

Faskari explained that picking Kabiru, who hails from Katsina State, does not violate the country’s laws as against the clamour for a Muslim/Christian APC ticket.

According to him, Kabiru is experienced, close to Tinubu, and will not have a problem working with the former Lagos State governor.

“He is young; he represents the youths and is grounded in politics and was even a national official of the APC. He is quite close to the presidential candidate and has been with him for a very long time,” he explained. “It is a very informed decision to put out his name.”

He said the decision followed wide consultations and that the party needs a person from a region with a large voting population.

“I think what it is is that it was the decision of the presidential candidate after due diligence,” the APC chieftain added.

The APC, it is believed is putting Kabiru as a placeholder to beat the deadline given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for presidential candidates to submit the names of their running mates.

INEC had given a Friday, June 17th, deadline for the submission of the names.