All Progressives Congress (APC) Deputy National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Murtala Ajaka has urged Nigerians to disregard religious sentiments surrounding the party’s selection of Sen. Kashim Shettima as its Vice-Presidential candidate in 2023.
Ajaka made the appeal in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja in response to opposition political parties’ criticism of the APC’s choice of Shettima.
Sen. Bola Tinubu, APC’s 2023 presidential candidate in Daura, Katsina State, was reported to have named Shettima, a Muslim and former two-term Governor of Borno, as his running mate.
Tinubu, a former two-term governor of Lagos State and an APC leader, had traveled to Daura to pay Sallah homage to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Shettima currently serves in the National Assembly as the representative for Borno Central.
While praising Tinubu’s choice, Ajaka stated that the fears expressed in some quarters were only in the minds of opposition political parties.
According to the APC spokesman, Shettima is the best choice for the APC to win the upcoming presidential election in 2023.
According to him, the opposition parties, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have been thrown off balance since Shettima was announced as the APC’s Vice-Presidential candidate, which has resulted in the noise and agony.
Ajaka described Shettima as a man of knowledge, accomplishment, courage, and integrity who was not given to bigotry or having any anti-corruption badges.
He went on to say that Shettima’s sterling qualities as the APC’s Vice-Presidential candidate had once again thrown the opposition parties off guard.
“The PDP and others would have preferred our presidential candidate to settle for the less to make it easy for them to win election.
“But the choice of the trusted and trust worthy Shettima must have disorganised their evil plans.
“While we sympathise with the opposition parties, we appeal to Nigerians, who will eventually be the beneficiaries of good governance under Tinubu-Shettima presidency, to see beyond the sentiments of religion and tribe.
“Both Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Sen. Kashim Shettima are not religious fundamentalists or ultra Muslims, their records in public offices are testimonies to rely on,” he said.
Ajaka recalled that Shettima, a two-term former governor of Borno, had the support of the Christian community throughout his tenure, as evidenced by the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
He went on to say that no government in Borno’s history had been as fair to the Christian community as Shettima’s.
He claimed that as Governor of Borno, Shettima sponsored the most Christian pilgrims each year from 2011 until he left office.
This and many other records of mutual respect for all faiths, are there to verify in Borno,” Ajaka said.
He, however, added that the APC and its presidential candidate would not be distracted from the goal of winning the 2023 general elections at all levels.
“Borno has the largest votes in the North-East where Kashim Shettima has been governor for eight years and now a Senator and still politically relevant.
“If APC had enjoyed massive support from this state and the entire North-East and the emergence of Shettima as our Vice-Presidential candidate will deny the candidate of the PDP a smooth ride in the zone.
“I think APC and our presidential candidate are politically correct because our main goal for now is to emerge victorious in the coming elections, not forgetting competence which Shettima represents,” he said
