2023: Why South-South, South-East APC leaders were not at Shettima’s unveiling as Tinubu’s running mate — Party chieftain

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, in Delta State, Chief Ariyi Emami, has dismissed the media reports that chieftains of the party from the South-south and South-east regions boycotted the unveiling of the former Governor of Borno, Senator Kashim Shettima as the party’s vice presidential candidate to express their disaffection.

The presidential candidate of the ruling APC, Bola Tinubu had announced Shettima as his running mate ahead of the 2023 elections despite opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket.

But Ayiri, while interacting with select journalists on Saturday in Abuja insisted that most people who stayed away from the unveiling did so because they thought having been presented to President Muhammadu Buhari, the ceremony of the formal unveiling of Shettima was no longer necessary.

He stated: “Even me I was not there, because to us, Shettima has been unveiled before now by Asiwaju himself. So, I was sleeping at home that day, when they called me. What did I need to go and do there?  So, I don’t see any political undertone in that. We have been told that it is Shettima and we have been talking. Everybody has congratulated him. The unveiling was just a ceremonial thing. I assumed other leaders not in attendance were very tired and couldn’t attend. So, it is not an issue for me.”

The APC Chieftain revealed that Tinubu consulted widely before announcing Shettima as his running mate.

His words: “Some of us even supported the candidacy of Shettima. We advised Asiwaju to go and look for good person that will give you support, whether Muslim or anything. Religion has not brought anything to our table.

“For example, Niger Delta Development Commission is an agency that is supposed to be taking care of the Niger Delta and so much money has come into the NDDC but the people monitoring those affairs are all Christians, no Muslim. Go and see whether you will see any development. Governors running the region are all Christians. So, if Asiwaju has a partner that will make him succeed, will give us protection, good roads, good schools, I don’t care because not everybody is even Christian”.

To some of us, a lot of majority of people that are going to vote don’t understand what they are saying about Muslim-Muslim ticket. What we are saying at the moment is Asiwaju for transformation. We are not seeing the religious aspect of it because to some of us, the Vice President is a Christian under Buhari, what is the difference. Some Christians because of politics will go to the North to go and turban. If you know you forbid something so much, don’t even go to their palace to turban. Why are you going there, don’t you know it is a different faith?” (Text, except for amended headline: THISDAY)