A tweet by Jafar Jafar read: “Tinubu and the running-mate pro tempore, Kabiru Masari. If this guy goes rogue, Asiwaju is in the soup “
Jafar, a Nigerian journalist is not alone in this line of thought. A spokesman to Nigeria’s ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati, and his Arise TV Morning Show crew shared a similar perspective with Jafar.
The team, another commentator, Temitope Ajayi said, failed in their sacred duty of public education while reviewing newspaper headlines as one of the news items was Tinubu submitted the name of Ibrahim Masari, as a place holder Vice Presidential candidate to beat INEC deadline for submission of names.
Now, what happens if Kabiru Masari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) vice presidential placeholder decides to go rogue?
That is the question that has been agitating the minds of not a few discerning political observers since yesterday.
Recall that the presidential candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Friday, submitted the name of a Katsina State politician, Kabiru Masari, as his vice presidential placeholder until he gets a more suitable choice, most likely a sitting governor from the North.
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Not much is known about Kabiru Masari other than he is a politician in Katsina, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari.
But after he was announced as a placeholder running mate, Kabiru Masari started trending on social media.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gave as deadline June 17 for the submission of running mates of all the presidential candidates. Kabiru Masari’s name was submitted to beat the deadline.
On Saturday, a journalist and publisher of Daily Nigerian, Jafar Jafar, posted a photograph of Tinubu and Kabiru Masari, saying if the placeholder decides to go rogue, that will be trouble for the ticket.
He said: “Tinubu and the running-mate pro tempore, Kabiru Masari. If this guy goes rogue, Asiwaju is in the soup “
But another tweet from @hassangboy tried to allay Jafar Jafar’s fears.
He wrote: “Daily Trust reported that Tinubu is confident the guy won’t ‘misbehave’ when the time comes for him to step down.
Another Netizen, @ali_gadangas, added: “Is not even a matter of step down, is only for the party to send a replacement letter to INEC and that is all.”
Ajayi is also in total disagreement with the line of argument that Masari can refuse to play ball and therefore cause a big problem for Tinubu and his party.
“During the review, they fell into the error that the place holder VP pick may refuse to step down for the real candidate by the time APC will be ready with an acceptable name like it happened between Senate President, Dr.Ahmed Lawan and Alhaji Bashir Sherrif Machina, Yobe North APC Senatorial candidate,” Ajayi wrote on his verified Facebook page.
“It is important to state that these are two different issues. The Electoral Law and INEC guidelines allow for substitution of candidates especially for Deputy Governor and Vice Presidential candidates.
“A political party, within the provision of law and INEC guidelines, can substitute the name of a Deputy Governorship and Vice Presidential candidate even without a recourse to the place holder. Whereas it presents a different scenario for other elective positions where candidates bought forms, contested and won in a primary election.
“A validly nominated candidate, in a party primary, can not be substituted with another name except the candidate resigns from the nomination to pave way for a fresh nomination or in case of death.
“I expected Dr. Abati and his people to properly dimension the issue to help the public with better understanding.”
But despite these assurances, the question of what if Kabiru Masari decides not to play ball continues to resonate loudly.
