Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso on Monday unveiled a clergyman, Bishop Isaac Idahosa as his running mate.
The unveiling event came up at the International Conference Centre, Abuja in a choice that is set to make the 2023 Presidential election more interesting.
Kwankwaso described Idahosa as a man of impeccable integrity and a supporter of one Nigeria.
“Idahosa is a man of impeccable integrity and credibility who clearly understands the country’s contemporary challenges,”
“He is a full-time believer and promoter of united Nigeria.
“I believe we can work together with sincerity to heal the wounds inflicted on the country. Let us come together and work towards healing our country. We must endeavour to face the challenges of the moment, rise together and work together to build the Nigeria of our dreams.”
Idahosa is the Senior Pastor and Presiding Bishop of the God First Ministry, Lekki Light Centre, Ajah Lagos State.
He said they are both conscious of the realities of the country and the needs of the people.
“We live in a country where victims of insecurity are constantly being ignored while still being accused of exaggeration, lying, or both,”
The former Kano State Governor said they scrutinised more than 20 potential candidates before arriving at the choice of Idahosa.
“We live in a country where victims of unemployment are accused of laziness, where universities and other tertiary education Institutions are frequently being shut down for months, and our children’s future being jeopardised while leaders are busy throwing out hundreds of millions of Naira to purchase party forms.
“While searching for my running mate, we scrutinised over 20 prospective candidates, all of whom were eminently qualified to be the vice president of the country but considering the severity of the wounds that have been inflicted on the country in recent years and the necessity of healing them, given the necessary desire to carefully balance old sensibilities, sensitivities, and differences to have an all-inclusive government that will be fair, and just all Nigerians and bear in mind that the country requires competent, credible and pathetic, courageous leaders, I came to this conclusion.”
Going by Kwankwaso’s choice, it is only the ruling All Progressives Congress’ candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu that has gone for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
In an election generally believed to be a four-horse race amongst the candidates of the APC, Tinubu, PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s Peter Obi and NNPP’s Kwankwaso, three of the parties have gone for a faith-sharing formula in their direction.