Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has declared that he picked Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate in the 2023 elections in the general interest of Nigerians.
Tinubu stated this in a statement he personally signed on 10 July, 2022, on what informed his choice of Shettima as vice presidential candidate for the election
Tinubu, after weeks of speculations of who to pick as running mate, – Muslim or Christian, region or ethnic, finally announced in Daura, Katsina State that Shettima, a serving senator and 2 term former governor of Borno State was the person the cap fits.
Senator Ahmed Tinubu had settled for Shettima based on his competence, innovation, compassion, integrity, fairness , adherence to excellence, deep understanding of challenges bedeviling Nigeria and zeal to combat them squarely.
Also, Shettima was said to be a detribalized grassroot politician who both Northern leaders and inhabitants so much loved due to his leadership styles that have impacted lives and positioned the Northern youths well .
The presidential candidate posited that his decision was after careful deliberations, wide consultations and the desire to produce a winning team that can pull the country out of the woods and set it on a path of progress and development.
Tinubu, said he was more concerned with composing the best team possible to re-envision and re-shape the country with the purpose to permanently establish a just, capable and compassionate governance for Nigerians.
Tinubu said his desire is beyond winning the 2023 elections, adding: “To re-envision and reshape the nation, I must compose the best team possible, a team put together with but one overriding purpose: to forever establish just, capable, and compassionate governance for the people of Nigeria without regard to religion, region, or ethnic origin.
Fellow Nigerians, we enter a moment of renewed hope. We hold the chance to move the nation and our collective cause forward as never before. Let us seize this moment so that history may write kindly of us”
The 2023 presidential candidate of APC reiterated commitment to position Nigeria in a prosperous and peaceful way. His statements read:
“We must end poverty and bring greater prosperity and more lasting peace. Let us be wise of thought yet courageous in action, as we embark on a collective enterprise that brings jobs, education, food, medicine, hope and belief in a better life to those who need them.
I stand ready to begin this journey with you, hopefully, to lead the nation on this needed path as your next president by the grace of God. I believe this is a pivotal moment at which the dynamics of history and destiny call us forth to reshape our beloved nation. This is our moment
to re-envision and reshape the nation, I must compose the best team possible, a team put together with but one overriding purpose: to forever establish just, capable, and compassionate governance for the people of Nigeria without regard to religion, region, or ethnic origin.
In the weeks since becoming the presidential candidate and standard-bearer of the APC, I have been touched as Nigerians from all walks of life have demonstrated their faith in my candidature”
“I am also a founding member of the APC. I hold our party’s core principles close to heart such that I shall do nothing to betray the spirit in which the party was created.
Having now listened to the sage, careful advice of a broad section of the party and of the nation, there are a few points I feel I must make about the exceptional and extraordinary person with whom I will share the APC ticket and the principles of open and good governance that informed this choice.
All my life, my decisions regarding the team around and supporting me have always been guided by the principles of competence, innovation, compassion, integrity, fairness, and adherence to excellence”
The challenges of today are consequential because the lives and livelihoods of millions of Nigerians lie in the balance. Visionary and creative leadership will take us to our goal.
Our focus, therefore, must be on getting the job done; and that means getting the very best and competent people to do it. In this crucial moment, where so much is at stake, we must prioritize leadership, competence, and the ability to work as a team over other considerations.
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
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.
This is why, today, I announce the selection of SENATOR KASHIM SHETTIMA as my partner and running mate in the mission to advance and reclaim the fortunes of this great country and the hopes of its people.
Senator Kasim Shettima’s career in politics and beyond shows that he is eminently qualified not only to deliver that all important electoral victory, but, also, step into the shoes of the vice president.
As a man with the talent, maturity, strength of character, and patriotism he has my implicit confidence and faith. I am aware that many will continue focus on a particular detail, the question of his faith.
However, if we truly understand the challenges upon us as a nation, then we must also see the imperative of placing competence in governance above religious sentiment.
In 1993, Nigerians embrace Chief MKO Abiola and a fellow Muslim running mate, Baba Gana Kingibe in one of our fairest elections ever held. The spirit of 1993 is upon us again in 2023.
As such, the ticket we present today represents a milestone in our political history. It symbolizes our party’s determination to be a leading light among political parties in Africa.
With this selection, the APC surely shall continue to be the party that shows the way and carries this nation towards its best future. I implore you all to join me on this journey to a brighter future”