Tinubu’s choice of Shettima surprising – Kebbi Gov. Bagudu
Abubakar Bagudu, the chairman of APC’s Progressives Governors Forum, says the announcement of Senator Kashim Shettima as running mate to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu caught governors unawares.
Bagudu said this after some governors met with President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina state on Sunday.
“We were pleasantly surprised when Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu announced in Daura on Sunday that Senator Kashim Shettima was the vice-presidential candidate,” he said.
Bagudu adds that he and his colleagues are nonetheless happy about the choice.
“We were happy that it was no less a person than Senator Shettima who was announced the vice-presidential candidate.
“No doubt, Senator Shettima would complement the good qualities of Asiwaju Tinubu. We are very happy with the choice. The two will complement each other and will surely consolidate on the achievements of the President in the past seven years,” the governor stated.
His statement seems to confirm the report that some governors are unhappy about Tinubu’s choice and had protested about it to President Buhari. The President’s intervention in the matter reportedly doused the tension.
Tinubu had announced Shettima, an incumbent senator and two-time former governor of Borno state. Shettima was a banker before foraying into politics.
The choice of Shettima, who is equally a Muslim as Tinubu, has continued to attract opposition from some Nigerians, especially Christians. The aggrieved Christians argue that same faith electoral ticket is insensitive to Nigeria’s secularity and meant to escalate incessant tensions between the two faiths.
