Kashim Shettima: Knocks, kudos as Tinubu picks running mate

By OBINNA EZUGWU

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Sunday, named Kashim Shettima, former governor of Borno State as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election, ending months of speculations about whether or not he would opt for a Muslim-muslim ticket.

Tinubu announced his choice of Shettima while addressing journalists in Daura, Katsina, where he had visited President Muhammadu Buhari on the occasion of Eid, finally settling for the controversial Muslim-muslim ticket.

The former Lagos governor defended his choice of of a fellow Muslim, noting that he could not choose a Christian and a Muslim at the same time.

Speaking on his choice of Shettima, Tinubu said all his life, decisions regarding the team around and supporting him had always been guided by the principles of competence, innovation, compassion, integrity, fairness, and adherence to excellence.

According to him, he consulted widely on the issue of running mate and he appreciated the perspectives of leading members of the party, political allies and key national figures “who see Nigeria’s future as I do.”

He said, “I am mindful of the energetic discourse concerning the possible religion of my running mate. Just and noble people have talked to me about this. Some have counselled that I should select a Christian to please the Christian community. Other have said I should pick a Muslim to appeal to the Muslim community. Clearly, I cannot do both,” he said.

“Both sides of the debate have impressive reason and passionate arguments supporting their position. Both arguments are right in their own way. But neither is right in the way that Nigeria needs at the moment. As president, I hope to govern this nation toward uncommon progress. This will require innovation. It will require steps never before taken. It will also require decisions that are politically difficult and rare.

“If I am to be that type of President, I must begin by being that type of candidate. Let me make the bold and innovative decision not to win political points but to move the nation and our party’s campaign closer to the greatness that we were meant to achieve.

“Here is where politics ends, and true leadership must begin. Today, I announce my selection with pride because I have made it not based on religion or to please one community or the other. I made this choice because I believe this is the man who can help me bring the best governance to all Nigerians, period, regardless of their religious affiliation or considerations of ethnicity or region.”

To those who might feel displeased by his action, Tinubu said, “May I say this to all of you, especially to those who will be disappointed in my selection based on religious considerations. I will not and cannot ignore the religious concerns and ethnic sensitivities of our people. Taking them into due consideration is an important part of good and able governance. But religion, ethnicity and region cannot always and fully determine our path. To forge ahead as a nation toward development and prosperity, we must break free of old binds. We must recalibrate our political calculations to where competence and fairness matter more than reductive demographics

Shettima, born on September 2nd 1966, is a former governor governed Borno from 2007 to 2015, and us a serving senator representing Borno Central.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maiduguri in Agricultural Economics and a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan.

Shettima was a banker before he joined active politics and is married to Nana Shettima and they have three children: two females and a male.

His choice, analysts say, may have been informed by the potential of getting bloc votes in Borno, a state that delivered massive numbers for the APC in 2015 and 2019.

In the last election, APC got 836,496 votes in Borno to PDP’s 71,788. Tinubu would hope that the state repeats the feat in 2023, what might be unlikely in Kano, the other northern state with massive numbers, given that Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) is a big factor in the state.

But the choice of Shettima have come with its own issues, and since he was announced, many have taken to social media to play up his alleged link to Boko Haram insurgency in Borno, with some bringing up links to reports where Ali Modu Sheriff, his predecessor allegedly accused him of being behind the insurgent group, even as some have recalled that he was governor when the terrorist group abducted over 200 students of government secondary school, Chibok.

There are also speculations that some governors of the APC were unhappy with the choice of the former Borno State governor, and had wanted one of them to be the running mate.

It was gathered that the governors preferred the Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu and his Kaduna State counterpart, Nasir El-Rufai, but Tinubu initially offered the ticket to the Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum.

The governors have scheduled to meet with President Buhari today in Daura, to formally register their displeasure befoe taking the next step

Sources within the Tinubu camp said part of what caused the delay in announcing the running mate choice was that Zulum, who they had assessed to be the more popular choice and more acceptable candidate, even though Tinubu had still favoured Shettima who was director general of his campaign organisation, turned down the offer, preferring that Shettima, his principal under whom he had served as commissioner before he facilitated his emergence as governor, be chosen instead.

More Controversy

The choice of Shettima has gotten many talking. Some have also resurrected an audio conversation, allegedly between him and Ibikunle Amosun, former Ogun State governor, in which he is alleged to have called for the targeting of the Igbo in the country. The authenticity of the audio remains in question.

“This same Shettima was governor when the Chibok girls were kidnapped. This is the governor that despite the warnings of Goodluck Jonathan that no exams should take place, he still went ahead with the exams and Chibok girls got missing. This is the person that Bola Tinubu wants as vice,” noted a twitter user, Ayekooto, @thebardogbamola.

For Comrade Deji Adeyanju, a rights activist, “Shettima was at the Centre of Chibok girls abduction and also has a lot to say about Boko Haram. He once said if he said all he knew about Boko Haram, the country will burn.”

Importantly, the choice of the former Borno State governor, is expected to put off the Christian population in the country, and comes amid spirited opposition to Muslim-Muslim ticket by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), among other groups.

“Tinubu running a Muslim Muslim ticket by choosing Shettima is his choice. He believes Muslims alone in the Southwest and the North can give him his Victory,” noted Abiodun Daniel, public affairs commentator. “Nigeria finally belongs to Muslims alone according to APC. Everyone vote your choice.”

Within the APC, the choice is also beginning to cause disaffection. On Sunday, a lawyer and member of the party, Daniel Bwala resigned from the party.

In a tweet via his verified account @BwalaDaniel, immediately after the unveiling of Shettima, Bwala said, “Tonight, I officially resigned my membership of @OfficialAPCng on principles and conviction that I hold so dear. At this time of our national existence, our efforts and energy should gravitate towards uniting our people.”

Senator Ishaku Abbo from Adamawa State, has allegedly resigned from all Tinubu’s campaign groups as a result.

However, for Festus Keyamo, minister of state for labour and employment, the choice of Shettima will be an advantage to Tinubu.

Shettima, Keyamo said, is a “Quintessential banker a economist, suave gentleman and politician, intellectually fertile, economically sound, intergenerationally mobile, fiercely loyal, phenomenally complimentary to Bola Tinubu. HE Sen. Kashim Shettima is the perfect choice as VP.”

Prior to Tinubu’s announcement, several party sources had confirmed to Business Hallmark that the former Lagos governor, a Muslim from the Southwest geopolitical zone who ordinarily is expected to pick a Christian from the north, had opted for a northern Muslim to appeal to the Muslim voting bloc in the region, with Shettima the most likely choice.

Although many Christians, and indeed Muslims, particularly in the north, as well as CAN, among others, have continued to oppose the idea of a Muslim-Muslim ticket, especially in the light of the rising religious tension in the country, sources close to the former governor had confided in our correspondent that he opted for a fellow Muslim in the firm believe that he would stand better chance of securing bloc votes in the north with a Muslim running mate.

“The issue of running mate has been discussed.” a close associate of the APC presidential candidate said. “The thinking is simple: Where are we expecting votes from? It is mainly the north and the Southwest.

“The Southwest will vote for us, whether the running mate is a Christian or a Muslim. But picking a Christian will affect our chances in the North, and we need the northern votes. For the Southeast and South South, of course, that’s PDP stronghold. So, whether the running mate is a Muslim or Christian, it won’t affect the voting pattern there.”

Indeed, support for Muslim-Muslim ticket is gradually crystalizing in the Southwest, with many drawing parallel to the 1993 ticket of MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe, which won the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.

“With all these efforts, God has the final say on who becomes the president. Chief MKO Abiola who was a Muslim was elected alongside his vice, a Muslim. We only need to pray that if Tinubu wins, it will not be like that of late Chief Abiola,” said Senator Rashidi Ladoja, former governor of Oyo State.

Ladoja who spoke to journalists at his residence in Bodija, Ibadan last week, insisted that there’s nothing wrong with a Muslim-muslim ticket.

“I don’t see anything wrong in Muslim-Muslim ticket because I don’t intervene in religion matters. Muslims and Christians are from the same father.”

Tinubu who had submitted the name of Kabir Ibrahim Masari, Masari as running mate in placeholder capacity, had up till Friday to submit the name of his substantive vice presidential candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The knotty issue of whether the running mate should be a Christian or Muslim from the North had made the choice complex, amid spirited agitations by Christian groups in the north, among other Nigerians.

But given that the North is a predominantly Muslim region, his supporters argue that picking a Christian could affect his chances, especially in view that the region already has two Muslim presidential candidates, namely, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Kwankwaso, candidate of the NNPP.

Although sources have told Business Hallmark that Kwankwaso, whose NNPP doesn’t have national spread, will ultimately use the platform to negotiate, he remains a huge factor in the region, even as it remains unclear, should he opted to support another candidate as expected, whether it will be Atiku of Tinubu.

However, Kwankwaso during an interview session on Arise TV on Sunday, indicated that he was more inclined to work with the former Lagos governor, an indication that he may be open to negotiations with the APC.

Asked if he is threatened by Tinubu’s choice, the former Kano governor said he likes the combination, and would have recommended Tinubu if he wasn’t running, but he does not know what they would do differently from the current administration.

“My only worry is the platform. This platform I don’t know. I know he is a strategist, Bola Tinubu, he is a good man. I had reasons to sit with him uncountable number of times from 1992 to date,” he said.

“I wish I will see him to ask him what he will tell Nigerians what he will do differently from what Muhammadu Buhari is doing today.

“That is my serious concern for him. Ordinarily, if I cannot get it, I can recommend him but it’s going to be like building something on zero.

“When I see him, I wish him well or when you see him before me, tell him I wish him well — but let’s take it easy.”

Earlier on Friday, during a gathering of about 100 clerics at the Kano State government house as part of activities to mark Eid El Kabir, Kano governor , Abdullahi Ganduje, first confirmed that Tinubu had agreed to pick a Muslim vice-presidential candidate.

“We have advised him to pick a Muslim deputy and he has agreed,” Mr Ganduje said. “A Muslim-Muslim ticket is a reality. It is not something new in Nigeria.”

Ganduje had asked the clerics to pray for Tinubu to emerge as Nigeria’s president come 2023, while urging them to offer prayers for his administration’s peace and progress.

Between Shettima and Zulum

Before the announcement on Sunday, the choice of running mate for the APC presidential candidate, had been narrowed down to Shettima and his predecessor, Babagana Zulum, with Zulum as the favoured candidate.

But Zulum, unwilling to accept the offer, it was obvious from last week that Tinubu’s camp was now in favour of the Shettima, a core loyalist of the former Lagos governor who stood behind him all through the intrigues leading up to the primaries.

Many supporters of Tinubu in the Southwest told Business Hallmark that they prefer Shettima, but Zulum was still the choice of the neutrals who argue that he will be more acceptable to the Christian community.

“If Tinubu settles for Zulum, the noise about Muslim-Muslim ticket will die a natural death,” said Mr. Oliver Okeke, a Tinubu supporter. “Zulum is the most outstanding governor in the north.”

Amid the speculations, however, both Zulum and Shettima came out to say that they have no issues with if they lose the ticket to the other.

Speaking to his supporters on Thursday, Shettima noted that, “Governor Zulum and I are like twins. Vice presidential ambition won’t change that, whoever emerges amongst us will support the other one.”

Meanwhile, at the weekend, an APC group, the Concerned Northern APC Youth Forum, declared total support for in the race for the vice presidential ticket and announced that a one million man march for him, to be organised after the Eid celebration.

In a statement in Damaturu, Yobe State, chairman of the group, Hon. Suleiman Liba, said the cap fits Shettima.

“There is no better fit for the cap of the vice president other than Senator Kassim Shettima.Kassim shettima is a two term governor of Borno state who did extremely well as governor even in the midst of insurgency that has ravaged especially that state,” he said.

“As Senator, Shettima gave his people the best of representation at the upper chamber of the National Assembly. Senator Kassim Shettima, in the spirit of equity and justice was the first to declare support for a southern president in the next election, this act alone has endeared him to many across the country,” he said.

“Alhaji Shettima is a close ally and confidant of the presidential candidate of the APC, so it is believed the both of them can work together in harmony and for the betterment of this country.”

CAN Kicks

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has kicked against the choice of Shettima.

Reacting to the development, CAN’s spokesperson, Adebayo Oladeji, said making such a decision in a polarised country was a wrong move.

He stated, in an interview with Punch, that if having a pastor as the vice president of the country and Christian clerics and worshipers are being killed , the security of lives and properties of Christians under a Muslim-Muslim could not be guaranteed.

Oladeji warned that Nigerians should be ready to face the consequences of their actions if they endorsed and vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“We knew this was what he was going to do and we have warned against it. It is up to Nigerians to decide on what they want,” he said.

“You are all alive when we warned Buhari not to allow Muslims to dominate the security architecture of the country and he did it. I think we can see the way the criminals are operating with impunity.

“So, if Tinubu says he is opting for a Muslim-Muslim ticket in a polarised country like ours , if Nigerians endorse him and vote for him, whatever happens, Nigerians will face the consequences.

“If you have a government where a pastor is a vice president and pastors and worshipers are being killed you can imagine what will happen when we have a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

“It is left to Nigerians to make their choice, let them vote them in and we will all face the consequences together.

“We are raising our alarm. It is an irony that Buhari they regarded as an extremist when we raised an alarm to warn him against a Muslim-Muslim ticket, he heeded and opted for a christian as his vice presidential candidate. ”

In a related development, the Niger State chapter of CAN has declared that it will not encourage Christians to vote for any political party that fields same faith for the 2023 governorship election.

The state CAN Chairman, Most Reverend Bulus Dauwa Yohana who made this known after an emergency meeting with State Executive members, Local Government Coordinators, Bloc and other leaders held at the State Secretariat in Minna said Christians had been marginalised in the past adding that it is now time to take a decisive stand.

“As equal stakeholders in Niger state who are concerned about the development of the state, we are ready to mobilize all Christians not to support and vote for any Political Party that undermines us to present a same faith ticket for the forthcoming general elections,” the Chairman declared.

In a statement by his Media Aide, Daniel Atori, the Chairman also remarked, “we have resolved to allow equity, justice and fairness to play out. We are aware that there have been so many arguments as to the population of Christians in the state; Well, democracy is said to be a game of numbers and the next elections will surely show our position.

“We call on all eligible Nigerlites especially Christians to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) so as to participate in the 2023 general elections if you truly want to effect positive change.

“If Niger State must be rescued, then Christians both in the rural and urban areas must wake up and do the needful. We need to arm ourselves with our PVCs and this is the time to make all necessary efforts to do so and also come out and vote,”he remarked.

Bishop Yohanna said , “all we are telling political parties is that with our voters’ cards, we will sway votes towards the party that respect Christians in the state.”

The CAN Executive had few weeks ago met with executive members of both All Progressives Congress,(APC) and that of Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP) on the need for them to consider Chritians as their deputies.

The PDP govermorsip candidate, Alhaji Isah Liman Kantigi picked a Christian- Samuel Gomna as his running mate which was endorsed by the Party in the state while APC Governorship candidate, Alhaji Umar Bago has picked a Muslim and incumbent state NLC Chairman, Comrade Yakubu Garba as his running mate which has also been endorsed by his Party.