Atiku: Remi Tinubu, Not Osinbajo, Almost Became Buhari’s VP in 2015

…Says He Fought Tinubu, Buhari Over Muslim-Muslim Ticket — And Prevailed

By Abu Adamu
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has revealed that Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of President Bola Tinubu, was at one point proposed as running mate to the late President Muhammadu Buhari ahead of the 2015 presidential election, before Professor Yemi Osinbajo eventually emerged as the choice.

Atiku, who spoke in a Hausa-language video interview shared on X, said the proposal came in the heat of a disagreement over an alleged plan for Buhari, a Muslim, to run with Tinubu, also a Muslim, on the ticket of the then newly formed All Progressives Congress.

According to the former Vice President, he personally opposed the proposed Muslim-Muslim ticket and made abandoning it a condition for supporting Buhari after the latter defeated him and other aspirants at the APC presidential primary in 2014.

Atiku claimed that after Buhari accepted his condition, Tinubu became upset because he had expected to emerge as Buhari’s running mate.

He said it was during efforts to resolve the disagreement that Tinubu proposed his wife, Oluremi, a Christian, as an alternative running mate, but Buhari rejected the suggestion because he did not want a woman as his deputy.

The impasse, Atiku said, was eventually resolved when Tinubu nominated Osinbajo, his former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, who is a Christian.

Atiku said his resistance to a Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket had begun years earlier when he himself emerged as a presidential candidate and Tinubu sought to become his running mate.

“He said he would back me to secure the ticket. After I got the ticket, he sent five elders, among them Tom Ikimi, Bisi Akande, and three others,” Atiku said.

According to him, the delegation informed him that Tinubu wanted the vice-presidential slot.

Atiku said he rejected the proposal on the grounds that presenting two Muslims on a presidential ticket would be inappropriate in Nigeria’s religiously diverse political environment.

“They told me that Tinubu wanted to be my running mate. I told them that, as Christians, they should understand that it was inappropriate for me to pick a Muslim as my running mate,” he said.

“I asked them why they could not tell him that. I told them that I could not accept a Muslim-Muslim ticket because it would not be in the best interest of our country.”

Atiku said the disagreement led to a political rupture between him and Tinubu, claiming the then Lagos governor subsequently backed the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

“He broke away and backed the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, may his soul rest in peace,” Atiku said.

According to the former Vice President, he and Tinubu remained in different political camps until opposition forces converged ahead of the 2015 general election.

Atiku said the Muslim-Muslim ticket controversy resurfaced immediately after Buhari emerged as the APC presidential candidate in December 2014.

He recalled that Buhari visited him at his Abuja residence after the presidential primary to seek his support for the general election.

“I returned to Abuja after the convention and late President Muhammadu Buhari visited me at my residence,” Atiku said.

“He told me that he had contested the primary election and won, but needed support to win the secondary election, saying he could not win without my support.”

Atiku said he agreed to support Buhari but attached one major condition — that the former military ruler must abandon any plan to run with Tinubu on a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“I gave him one condition because I learnt that Tinubu wanted Buhari to pick him as his running mate. I assured him I would support him on the condition that he would not do a Muslim-Muslim ticket,” Atiku said.

According to him, Buhari initially reflected on the demand before accepting it.

“After about five minutes of thought, he assured me he would not,” he said.

Atiku claimed that Buhari’s decision triggered a confrontation with Tinubu, whose emissaries subsequently sought clarification about what had transpired between Buhari and the former Vice President.

“Tinubu was so upset, saying that Buhari had not kept his promise, and so on. He was eventually calmed down,” Atiku said.

It was at that point, according to Atiku, that an extraordinary alternative entered the discussions: Oluremi Tinubu, then a senator and a Christian.

“He later asked Buhari to pick his wife since she is a Christian, but Buhari declined to work with a female running mate,” Atiku said.

He said religious leaders became involved in efforts to resolve the disagreement before Tinubu was eventually persuaded to nominate another Christian acceptable to the Buhari camp.

“Clerics were involved in the ensuing disagreement, but in the end, Tinubu was convinced to nominate Osinbajo, who was his Attorney-General and a Christian, and Buhari accepted the nomination,” he said.

Osinbajo subsequently ran with Buhari in the 2015 presidential election, with the APC ticket defeating the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Atiku’s account portrays him as a key player behind the rejection of the Muslim-Muslim arrangement in 2014, claiming his insistence to Buhari effectively shut the door on Tinubu’s vice-presidential ambition and ultimately paved the way for Osinbajo.

Tinubu would, eight years later, take a different course when he emerged as the APC presidential candidate for the 2023 election, choosing former Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as his running mate despite opposition from Christian groups and some political leaders.

The Tinubu-Shettima ticket went on to win the 2023 presidential election, and is on the ballot again for the 2027 rematch.