The Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and heir apparent to the presidency come 2023, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has explained the rationale being his choice of choosing former governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate.
Before the eventual announcement of Shettima as his running mate, there has been heated discussion about single-faith ticket with the Christian body, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leading the argument against Muslim-Muslim ticket while other stakeholders were of the opinion that competence and acceptability among others should be accorded priority over religious sentiment.
In a press statement personally signed by the foremost presidential candidate, he explained that competence, compassion, innovation, integrity , fairness and adherence to excellence have always informed his decision in choosing the team around him thus, his reason for settling for Shettima as his running mate.
He went further to add that his conviction that leadership acumen, competence and teamwork spirit should form the basis of any partnership over other factors encouraged him to pick shettima as his running mate.
“I am mindful of the energetic discourse concerning the possible religion of my running mate. Just and noble people have talked to me about this. Some have counselled that I should select a Christian to please the Christian community. Other have said I should pick a Muslim to appeal to the Muslim community. Clearly, I cannot do both.”
“Both sides of the debate have impressive reason and passionate arguments supporting their position. Both arguments are right in their own way. But neither is right in the way that Nigeria needs at the moment. As president, I hope to govern this nation toward uncommon progress. This will require innovation. It will require steps never before taken. It will also require decisions that are politically difficult and rare.
“If I am to be that type of President, I must begin by being that type of candidate. Let me make the bold and innovative decision not to win political points but to move the nation and our party’s campaign closer to the greatness that we were meant to achieve.
“Here is where politics ends, and true leadership must begin. Today, I announce my selection with pride because I have made it not based on religion or to please one community or the other. I made this choice because I believe this is the man who can help me bring the best governance to all Nigerians, period, regardless of their religious affiliation or considerations of ethnicity or region.”
To those who might feel displeased by his action, Tinubu said, “May I say this to all of you, especially to those who will be disappointed in my selection based on religious considerations. I will not and cannot ignore the religious concerns and ethnic sensitivities of our people. Taking them into due consideration is an important part of good and able governance. But religion, ethnicity and region cannot always and fully determine our path. To forge ahead as a nation toward development and prosperity, we must break free of old binds. We must recalibrate our political calculations to where competence and fairness matter more than reductive demographics.”
