The races for the vice-presidential slots of the ruling All Progressives Congress is still ongoing while the Borno State Youths and Students Forum have endorsed the candidature of Senator Kashim Shettima as the running mate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
The forum described Tinubu as a formidable force that can match the presidential candidates of other political parties in the 2023 general elections, particularly the PDP Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
The Chairman of the Forum, Comrade Mahmud Muhammad who stated this in a press statement made available to newsmen in Bauchi State said that the APC Convention was a huge success, adding that the best presidential candidate emerged because only he can be a match for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the opposition People Democratic Party
He stated that ever since the emergence of the National leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the Presidential Candidate of the party, the issue of who becomes the vice presidential running mate has flooded the pages of Newspapers and other media with different interpretations and permutations thereby heating the polity.
According to him, Bola Tinubu has consistently remained active in the political arena of Nigeria and has won elections both as Senator and two terms as Governor of Lagos State.
“As young people of Nigeria from the North-East region, who have been following keenly the evolution and history and have been privileged to witness some of the political activities and happenings in Nigeria, then our region need to have next Vice Presidential position”.
“The Presidential Candidate of our great Party is currently in deep search of a running mate and with many been filtered around including the likes of the Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and Senator Kashim Shetima from the North East along with others from another region”.
“It is an inarguable, undeniable discourse that the region is suffering from power drought and dissertation for the past 62 years and the last time the region tasted or smelled the corridor of power was when Atiku served as the Vice President from 1999 to 2007” he stressed.
Mahmud Muhammad stated that the region has suffered since 2009 from the activities of Boko Haram insurgents, pointing out that the country needs visionary leadership to support the Governors of the region in peace-building through stakeholders and community enhancements.
“This is the reason why out of all mentioned, only Senator Kashim Shetima stands out. It is for the above-mentioned reasons that as a son of the North East region, fingers Senator Kashim Shetima whose success in Government and as a seasoned banker deserves to be the Vice President of Nigeria to facilitate the Bola Tinubu’s vision of transforming Nigeria into the world-class economy”.
“We shall be engaging our young people through the media both mainstream and the Social Media to disregard all sorts of name swinging and name-calling of Muslim Muslim ticket or otherwise. As young people, religion and tribes are not the necessities or ingredients to which a leader is voted into office. Let us emphasize credibility, capacity, competency and delivery to which Senator Kashim Shetima is defined,” he concluded
