Former governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima has said that it would will be “catastrophic” for the All Progressives Congress (APC) if former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu fails to clinch the party’s presidential ticket.
Speaking in an interview on TVC, Shettima also claimed that Tinubu played a pivotal role not only in the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as the candidate of the APC, but in the ultimate election in 2015.
He said;
“We are in a democratic situation but I’m afraid it might be catastrophic for the party. I’m not a prophet of doom; I’m an internal optimist. We have done our own bidding and by God’s grace, our candidate will emerge as the presidential flagbearer of the APC in the next 72 hours.
“It is not a subject of dispute but a question of time. He has paid the price, and yesterday in Abeokuta, he made some remarks that were deliberately distorted and quoted out of context.
“Whether they are willing to admit it or not, he played a pivotal role not only in the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as the candidate of the APC, but in the ultimate election in 2015.”
Shettima also said if Buhari should endorse any candidate, it would be Tinubu. He added;
“He is the president of this country. His input is highly essential. We respect and adore him, but we believe at the end of the day, the president is a democrat and he will align himself with the aspirations of his party members.
“People are underrating the president a great deal and they are equally underrating the depth of his friendship with asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They have come a long way. The president is a man of honour who is being grossly underrated.
“The President Buhari I know sufficiently, if at all the president is going to endorse anyone, that person is going to be asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Forget about all the charlatans and distractions and political contractors.”
The former Governor also expressed concern that some “Judas Iscariot” from the South are ever ready to play the second fiddle.
Shettima concluded by saying; “The enemy of Southern Nigeria is often not the Northern Nigeria, but men and women of its own stock, the Judas Iscariot of the Southern race who are ever ready to play the second fiddle.
“This is an informed gathering and I cannot talk to you about leadership, Yorubas, especially the Egba and Ijebu stock are some of the most educated people in Africa.
“….I said earlier we are living in very interesting times and for those of us in the Asiwaju team, we are moved by forest of ideas and the realization that what this country needs is a unifying leader who has neither ethnic nor religious agenda and who is not bound by toxic regional solidarity and yet known for exemplary qualitative leadership. And if you look around, the contenders and the pretenders for the Presidency of this country, there is no one that the cap fits better than the gentle man seated here.”
