Some governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, are said to be dissatisfied with the selection of Ex-Borno Senator Kashim Shettima as APC Presidential flagbearer Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s running mate.
The Governors are expected to meet with President Buhari today in Daura to formally register their displeasure before deciding their next course of action.
Tinubu had long submitted a list of potential running mates to the president, on which Buhari had refused to act. He then took the initiative because the deadline is Friday, July 15, and formally announced Shettima before the deadline.
The announcement immediately sparked a squabble within the party, as some of the governors who had worked tirelessly to ensure Tinubu’s ticket was considered ‘arrogant’ and went against the agreement he had with them.
To that end, the governors, the majority of whom were from the North West, did not object to Shettima’s selection, but rather to Tinubu’s disregard for all of their agreements in order to announce the name.
The Governors and Tinubu were said to be in constant ‘back and forth’ over who would be his running mate. They had begun to consider pandering to Tinubu because his sentiments were appealing to Shettima.
To accomplish this, the governors allegedly agreed with Tinubu that the unveiling would take place with them present to demonstrate consent and agreement.
However, declaring as if they didn’t matter in the equation, especially since some of them were uncomfortable with the Muslim-Muslim concept, enraged them.
Aside from the governors, Senator Abbo of Adamawa, who was a member of some of Tinubu’s support groups and committees, sent out a scathing message in which he expressed his disappointment in Tinubu for defying popular opinion by running on a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Abbo, who promised to formally submit his resignation letters today, stated that if Tinubu refused to listen to counsel as an ordinary citizen, he would be worse as president, and resigned from all committees.
On Sunday night, another top party official, Daniel Bwala, resigned over the ‘Muslim-Muslim’ ticket saga.
“Tonight, I officially resigned my membership of @OfficialAPCng on principles and convictions that I hold so dear,” Bwala wrote on social media. At this point in our nation’s history, our efforts and energies should be directed toward uniting our people.”