Senator Kashim Shettima has been proposed by All Progressives Congress presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as his running partner to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This, according to InsightnaijaTV, has dashed the dreams of many Nigerians and party members who had hoped he would change his mind about the divisive Muslim-Muslim ticket by removing the former governor of Borno State.
According to reports, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the national chairman of the APC, and Senator Iyiola Omisore, the national secretary, submitted Shettima’s name to INEC on Thursday.
The Bola Tinubu Campaign Organization’s spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, told newsmen that it would be foolish for the former governor of Lagos State to abandon Shettima because of few people’s complaints.
He said: “That is not possible. We have seen this move before; all these campaigns to pit us against fellow Nigerians. It happened in 1993, and the result was clear. There was pressure from several quarters for (MKO) Abiola to drop (Babagana) Kingibe because of his Muslim background.”
“What we should be looking at is not religion but competence of the candidate to deliver and take the country to a greater height. They will soon realise that. As I said earlier, there is no likelihood of our presidential candidate dropping Shettima. He has selected him, and Shettima will remain. He is a cool candidate. Either of them can be a President,” Onanuga insisted.
Shettima was scheduled to be introduced by the APC as Bola Tinubu’s running mate on Thursday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, InsightnaijaTV reports.
However, the revelation was prevented from taking place after Abdullahi, the national chairman of the APC, requested a postponement.
According to reports, the ceremony was postponed so that the party could renovate some neglected areas of the property.
“The chairman felt a high profile event like that should hold in a befitting office under befitting conditions. That was why the event was postponed,” a source told the Nation.
