PRESIDENTIAL standard bearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has again defended his choice of a fellow Muslim, Senator Kashim Shettima, as his running mate, saying though he has heard and read the backlash generated by his decision, he was committed to the joint ticket because he believes in Shettima’s competence.
Tinubu’s explanation at the unveiling of Shettima, yesterday, came as the party leadership conceded that though the former Lagos governor had exclusive rights to the choice of his running mate, Shettima’s emergence was a product of wide consultations between Tinubu and other party stakeholders, including President Muhammadu Buhari.
This was as Shettima also subtly waded into the controversy, saying he was picked as Tinubu’s running mate after a diligent assessment of the threats ahead of the party.
He said if he was an unpopular option, “as the cast of partisan provocateurs has attempted to paint,” there would not have been the tons of goodwill messages, especially from Christians, from all over the country.
The APC vice presidential candidate hailed those he called “rational citizens” who viewed the Muslim-Muslim ticket as nothing but a pragmatic permutation to defeat the party’s opponents at the polls.
The event witnessed heavy security deployment as hordes of party supporters and a coalition of some pentecostal bishops stormed the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in apparent solidarity with the party.
Inspite of the backlash generated by the Muslim-Muslim pairing of the APC, one of the clerics who described himself as a Bishop but failed to give the name of his church, said they were at the event to drum massive support for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket.