Following the criticisms that have greeted his choice of running mate, the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Wednesday said that he had made the hard choice.
It could be recalled that Tinubu pick a fellow Muslim, Senator Kashim Shettima, former Governor of Borno State as his Vice Presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election despite Nigerians’ outcry against the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Speaking on his verified Twitter handle shortly after the unveiling of Shettima in Abuja, the former governor of Lagos State averred that he made the hard choice because he believed it was the best choice.
According to him, “This chapter in our nation’s history demands a bold yet pragmatic approach. In selecting Senator Shettima I have committed myself to this path. I have made the hard choice because I believe it is the best choice.
“Together, we shall build this party and this nation. This is where politics must end and leadership must begin.
“True leadership is not grounded in religious pandering, populism or sentiment. To forge ahead as a nation towards development and prosperity, we must, instead, break the shackles of old thinking.”
However, Daily Independent had earlier reported that APC Muslim youths rejected his choice of Senator Shettima as his running mate, advising him to replace the former governor of Borno with a Christian political leader or cleric from the North.
On July 12, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Tinubu’s ally, Mr. Babachir Lawal, described as a “disastrous error”, Tinubu’s resort to picking a fellow Muslim as his running mate.