Disquiet in APC over North’s support for Tinubu

Disquiet in APC over North’s support for Tinubu

QUESTIONS are being asked in the All Progressives Congress (APC) on whether its presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu, truly enjoys the backing of the party’s leaders in the North.

It was learnt that barring any last-minute change of direction, the North might have decided to support one of their own, to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari who will be leaving power in May.

Amidst the disquiet, Tinubu’s running mate, Kashim Shettima, was dispatched to the North-West during the week to interface with traditional rulers and other opinion moulders in the critical zone, in what a source described as a “confidence building” move.

An ally of Tinubu who is also the president of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alhaji Yerima Shettima, told Saturday Tribune on Friday that he would soon expose APC governors in the North who he said were secretly backing the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

“The conservative North appears not to trust him (Tinubu) and his running mate who is from a minority ethnic group in the North-East,” a credible source told Saturday Tribune during the week.

Kashim Shettima’s inter- face with the rulers started about three weeks ago with visits to some first-class traditional rulers in the North- West. For instance, Shettima has been to the palaces of the Emir of Dutse, the Emir of Kano, the Emir of Katsina, the Emir of Daura and the Emir of Zazzau.

On Wednesday, Shettima continued the interface with visits to the Emir of Yauri in Kebbi State and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar.

It was learnt that after the North-West, Shettima will proceed to the North-Central where he is expected to pay similar visits to some prominent traditional rulers like the Emir of Borgu, the Ochi Doma, the Emir of Nasarawa, the Emir of Lafia, the Emir of Keffi, the Emir of Pom, the Ohinoyi of Ebira, the Atta of Igala and the Emir of Ilorin.

He will end the interface in the North-East where he is expected to equally visit the Shehu of Borno, the Lamido of Adamawa, the Emir of Bauchi, the Emir of Dass, the Emir Gombe, among other traditional rulers in that zone.

The former governor of Borno State, while speaking with newsmen shortly after his closed-door meeting with the Sultan of Sokoto, allayed all fears, declaring that the APC presidential candidate, Tinubu, would run an all-in- clusive government if elected in the February election.

He promised that the Tinubu/APC-led government would continue to consider the interests of all Nigerians while urging the electorate to vote Tinubu as the president of Nigeria.

He explained that he was in Sokoto on behalf of Tinubu to solicit the prayers of the Sultan for a peaceful conduct of the general election and to pay homage to the traditional ruler.

He noted that the visit to Sokoto State was necessary, being the Seat of the Caliphate, which is historic and strategic to the development and entrenchment of qualitative leadership in Nigeria.

Shettima expressed confidence that his party would win the election owing to its strength and acceptability among Nigerians.

He reiterated the APC’s preparedness to participate in the election, adding that Ti nubu was committed to the unity and development of the country.

A source who spoke to Saturday Tribune on condition of anonymity revealed that the visit of the vice presidential candidate to Sokoto was to seek support from the Sultan- ate Council.

Meanwhile, the AYCF presi- dent, Yerima Shettima, told Saturday Tribune that “the majority of the 19 northern governors are not with the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“I have evidence on the activities of APC governors who are romancing the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Very soon, I will expose them.”

In an exclusive interview with Saturday Tribune on Friday, Shettima said: “In the build-up to the 2015 general election, we saw how Bola Ahmed Tinubu influenced the South-West governors and their stakeholders to support President Buhari.

“In the rundown to the election, Tinubu gave them 100 percent support. We could see how he, against all olds, made sacrifices for them (governors) and other officeholders to emerge as candidates and subse- quently win elections in their respective states. But the way things are going now, they are not giving him the same support.

“Two weeks ago, there was this gathering in Lagos, organised by Northerners residing in Lagos and other South-West states to endorse Tinubu, and I was there as a special guest of honour.

“At the gathering, I came to learn that no kobo was contributed by any governor from the North. Rather, the event was singlehandedly sponsored by the Northern- ers and the traditional rulers residing in the South-West to make the event a success.

“Only the Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, demonstrated love for Tinubu by attending the event. Even his Director General, the governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, was not there. The question I asked was: why are we not seeing the commitment of these governors?

“Even the president, we have only seen him in a few places. He is not making his presence felt in the cam- paigns. What is going wrong? If they are not committed, why did they allow him (Tinubu) to get the ticket in the first place? I think something is fishy.

“My candid advice to Tinubu is that he should not rely on the APC governors as most of them have failed their people. Some of them cannot go back and talk to the people on the direction to follow.

“Only a few of them are with him. If the Southern gover- nors are not with him, we do not expect the Northern governors not to be with him.

“You know, Northerners, by our culture and standards, we are meant to be honest and sincere. If we say this is where we want to belong, we stay there, no matter what. But today, unfortunately, we don’t keep to our word.”