Senator Kashim Shettima, the former governor of Borno State, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to back Bola Tinubu’s presidential ambition.
The ex-governor said the upcoming 2023 election is a payback time for Tinubu because he helped the APC to take power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.
Shettima, who presided over a nationwide convention of the Tinubu Support Groups (TSG) on Monday, January 17, 2022, claimed that none of the APC presidential candidates has sacrificed more for the country’s democracy than the party’s National Leader.
As a result, he demanded that President Buhari reward Tinubu for his political contributions to the APC’s creation and victory in 2015.
The ex-governor asked the ruling party to zone its 2023 presidential ticket to the south and give Tinubu the right of first refusal.
He said, “In 2015, some aspirants with very huge war chests were itching to clinch the ticket of the APC, but like the Rock of Gibraltar, Asiwaju and his progressive team stood solidly behind the candidacy of President Buhari.
“My simple question, distinguished ladies and gentlemen is, where were the new members of what I call ‘the Buhari’s church of latter days’ saints’; where were they?
“We knew where their political loyalty lay in that particular convention when Buhari emerged as the presidential candidate of the APC. Where were they?
“Some people say everything goes in politics. Not everything goes in politics. We shall have minimal thresholds below which we won’t operate and the irreducible minimum is that after eight years of presidency in the North, the logic, common sense, equity, justice, and fairness demand that power should move to the southern part of the country.
“And who is better qualified? Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu should be given the choice of first refusal. More than any other person, he has sacrificed more for this democracy; for the APC.”
Shettima also tackled those saying Tinubu is unfit to be Nigeria’s president, saying the former governor of Lagos State is a tested, accomplished, and large-hearted leader.
He added that Tinubu has invested his resources in building an extensive network of political mentees who have risen to the peak of their careers.
