Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State may be picked as the Vice Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections, Straightnews has gathered.
At the just-concluded primary of the party held from June 6 to 7 at the Eagle Square, Abuja, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former Lagos State governor, won as the APC Presidential candidate.
Incidentally, Tinubu from Southern part of Nigeria is a Muslim and Lalong from the Northern part of the country is a Christian.
At present, Lalong is the Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, which is a strong factor qualifying him for the position.
An anonymous source confided in Straightnews that Lalong’s name has been sent for security check and the party is waiting for approval before the name of the standard bearer and his name are sent to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Read also: 2023: Bola Tinubu wins APC presidential ticket
Recall that Lalong attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor’s degree in Law. He attended and completed Law School in Lagos, where he was called to the Bar. He later obtained a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Jos, in 1996.
In 1998, Lalong won and represented Shendam Constituency in the Plateau State House of Assembly under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In October 2000, he became the speaker of the assembly, remaining in that position till 2006. During that period, he was elected as the Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of the 36 states of Nigeria.
In 2015, Lalong defected from PDP and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he won and was sworn in as the Plateau State governor on May 29, 2015.
However, Lalong scarcely won re-election as governor of Plateau State. In the bye-election, he polled 595,582 votes to beat his closest rival, General Jeremiah Husseini of the PDP, who polled 546,813 votes.
Similarly, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State is rumoured to become the Vice Presidential Candidate to Alhaji Abubakar Atiku who is the standard bearer for the opposition PDP in the country.
Already, INEC has ended primaries for the 18 political parties in the country but the portal is opened for candidates to upload.
