A former Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, has said there's no need for the APC to be in crisis over where and who the party's presidential flag bearer would be.
Shettima who was delivering a keynote address at the Support Group Conference in Abuja, said going by the original agreement reached before Buhari's emergence as the party's candidate ahead of the 2015 presidential election, it is without a doubt, that power has to go to the south, and the one man who deserves the party’s ticket, is non other than the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
National Pivot had reported that Buhari's emergence as the APC flag bearer in the 2015 election, was as a result of Tinubu sacrificing his ambition so power could return to the North, especially at a time the PDP was in crisis over ex-president Jonathan's refusal to not seek another term in office.
Tinubu then seek to serve as Buhari's running mate in the 2015 presidential election, but although he's eligible being from the south, being a Muslim however, disqualified him over concerns of a Muslim/Muslim ticket. This of course, was good news for Osinbajo who out of nowhere, emerged as Buhari's running mate, and is set to challenge and possibly retire Tinubu from the presidential race, should he one-up his political godfather in the party's primary.
But in a bid to make the goings easy for the APC National Leader, Shettima is advocating for a special privilege for Tinubu whom he said has done so much for the party and should be given the party ticket as a consensus candidate.
He said, “In 2015, some aspirants with a very huge war chest were itching to cling the ticket of the APC, like the rock of Gibraltar. Asiwaju and his progressive team stood solidly behind the candidate of President Muhamadu Buhari.
“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 demands 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 took aim at those using age and health as a yardstick for deciding who the party's flag bearer would be. He warned that the mudslinging that has trailed Tinubu since his presidential bid was a mere acknowledgement of his political track record and inimitable influence on the political scene.
He said, “One of such is the mischievous fixation on his age and the wild conclusions that he’s physically unsuitable for the Office of the President. This obsession characterizes the thinking of those who have no understanding of Asiwaju’s incredible work ethic.
“Those who seek to make us go low hope to present the presidency as a brick-laying exercise. But that’s the work of a machine created by an idea, and who else to guide us towards manufacturing the best ideas to redeem this country?
“To derail us at this point is a futile ambition. The conversations we are prepared for aren’t pedestrian obsessions with the mundane but comparisons of ideas and track records of service to the nation.”