Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) says Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has chosen to walk along the path of great Nigerians like late MKO Abiola in picking Sen. Kashim Shettima, as his running mate for the 2023 poll.
Adamu said this on Wednesday in Abuja at the unveiling of Sen. Kashim Shettima, a former two-term governor of Borno as Tinubu’s running mate for the 2023 presidential election.
“It is now time for the APC to step out to the public space with one of its best.
“Since the presidential candidate of our party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, announced the choice of his running mate on July 11, the nation is yet to know who he is, we welcome this opportunity to unveil him.
“As the national chairman of our party, it is both my honour and duty to unveil this distinguished son of our country and formally present him to this august body and through it, the Nigerian public,” he said.
Adamu said that the late MKO Abiola in 1993 presidential election, chosed a Kanuri man, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe from the North-East as his running mate.
“We are beginning to suspect there must be some synergy between the Yoruba people and the Kanuri people.
“Maybe there is a mutual attraction between them that the rest of us do not know, never mind, we will put the searchlight on them,” he said.
According to him, the 1993 MKO Abiola-Kingibe presidential ticket and the current Tinubu-Shettima ticket, bridged one of our fault lines in the management of our diversities.
Adamu said that Nigerians overwhelmingly voted for that ticket because they trusted Abiola, a man who opened his arms to every tribe and religion in the country to run an inclusive government.
He said that Tinubu was a man who has also thrown his arms around every tribe in the country and has offered his shoulders for those in pains to lean on.
“He has used his wealth to bring succour to the needy, he can be trusted to run an inclusive government in which character, competence and vision matter to his administration.
“Our party has produced a candidate who is accepted by all zones in our country, he enjoys the trust of every strata in our national socio-economic structure.
“We are confident that Nigerians will entrust him with the leadership of our country in 2023. We offer our gratitude to Nigerians for the continued trust they repose on the APC.
“In our political tradition, the choice of a running mate is the exclusive right of the presidential candidate,” Adamu said.
He said that the party’s presidential candidate exercised that right with due consultations with stakeholders.
Adamu said that Tinubu being an astute politician, couldn’t have made the choice of a running mate without widely consulting the party’s stakeholders, including President Muhammadu Buhari.
The national chairman said that having made his choice, the party wholly and unconditionally accepted Tinubu’s choice and have a duty to work for their victory in the 2023 poll.