Senator Kashim Shettima has said the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu must be given a choice of first refusal as the 2023 presidential election approaches.
Shettima who was a former Governor of Borno State stated this, Monday while delivering a keynote address at the Support Group Conference in Abuja.
The former governor said it was commonsense for the presidency to return to the south after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He added that “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. My simple question distinguished ladies and gentlemen is, where were the new members of what I call: ‘The Buhari’s Church of Later Days Saints’ where were they. We knew where their political loyalty lay in that particular convention when President Muhamadu emerged as the presidential candidate of the APC. Where were they?
“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 added 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 pointed out that attempts at weaving ridiculous fiction to override the history witnessed by all, demonstrated the detractors’ utter desperation and cowardice.
He said he was not asking Tinubu’s critics to tone down critical assessments of their future leaders, but added that they are not preparing for the Olympics, nor is the president a Bricklaying exercise.
He said Tinubu’s credentials aren’t only appealing, they are proof of the qualities the country needs to redeem its vast potentials and possibilities.
Shettima noted, “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.”
