Politics
Finally Tinubu settles for Kashim Shettima as APC Vice Presidential candidate
By John Danjuma
All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate and National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Sunday picked Senator Kashim Shettima as his Vice Presidential candidate.
Tinubu made the disclosure to journalists at the Daura residence of President Muhammadu Buhari.
A statement by Director, Media and Communication, Tinubu Campaign Organisation Bayo Onanuga indicated that the APC touche bearer arrived Daura Sunday afternoon to pay Sallah homage to President Buhari who is in his native home for the Sallah holiday.
The statement explained that the vice presidential candidate Senator Shettima is the immediate past Governor of Borno State and also close associate of Tinubu who has been a staunch supporter and campaigner for the choice of Tinubu as the next President of Nigeria.
He toured many states with Tinubu since December 2021 where he addressed party delegates and mobilised support for the former Governor of Lagos State.
Earlier, the Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Masari, had withdrawn from the 2023 presidential race as running mate to the APC candidate.
Before his withdrawal, Masari was nominated as ‘placeholder’ running mate to Tinubu in order to allow the latter ample time to eventually nominate the right running mate for the 2023 presidential election.
In a statement signed by Masari and issued from Saudi Arabia on Sunday, titled, ‘Resignation As APC Vice Presidential Nominee’, he said he was stepping down “after much reflection and wider consultations.”
Who is Senator Shettima?
As governor of Borno State between 2011 and 2019, the 56 year old Kashim Ibrahim Shettima ran his government on the similar template used by Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
Despite the Boko Haram insurgency, he was able to build world class schools, housing and he also tapped in Human Resources outside his state.
Among his closest aides were an Ibo Christian from Anambra State in the Southeast, an Urhobo Christian from Delta State in the South-South, a Christian from Edo State in the South-South, a Yoruba Christian from the Southwest, a Fulani man from Gombe in the northeast and a Hausa man from Zamfara State in the northwest.
He was born on the 2 September, 1966 to the family of Sir Kashim Ibrahim. He is married to Nana Shettima, and they have three children: two females and a male.
In a Wikipedia biography, Sen. Kashim attended Lamisula Primary School in Maiduguri from 1972 to 1978; Government Community Secondary School, Biu in southern part of Borno State from 1978 to 1980; transferred to Government Science Secondary School, Potiskum (now in neighbouring Yobe State) where he completed his secondary education in 1983. He studied at the University of Maiduguri and earned a Degree (BSc) in Agricultural Economics in 1989. He had his one-year compulsory membership of the National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, at the defunct Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative Bank, Calabar, capital of Cross River State in South-South, Nigeria, from 1989 to 1990.
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He obtained a master’s degree (MSc) in Agricultural Economics in 1991 at the University of Ibadan in Southwest, Nigeria. Shettima joined the University of Maiduguri as a Lecturer with the Department of Agricultural Economics and was in the academia from 1991 to 1993.
Early career:
In 1993, he moved into the banking sector and was employed by (now defunct) Commercial Bank of Africa Limited as head of accounts unit at the bank’s office in Ikeja, Lagos State, Southwest, Nigeria.
Shettima was there from 1993 to 1997. In 1997 he crossed over to the African International Bank Limited as a Deputy Manager and rose to become a Manager in 2001. In 2001, he moved to the Zenith Bank as head of its main branch in Maiduguri. At the Zenith Bank he rose to Senior Manager/Branch Head; Assistant General Manager (AGM)/Zonal Head (North-East), Deputy General Manager/Zonal Head (North-East) before he stepped out of the Zenith Bank as a General Manager in 2007 following his appointment as Commissioner for Finance in Borno State.
Shettima worked with the Commercial Bank of Africa as an Agricultural Economist at its Ikeja Office, Lagos State (1993-1997). He then became a deputy manager, later manager, at the African International Bank Limited, Kaduna Branch (1997–2001), and was appointed Deputy Manager/Branch Head of the Zenith Bank’s Maiduguri Office in 2001, becoming General Manager five years later. In mid-2007, Shettima was appointed Commissioner of the Borno State Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. Later he became Commissioner in the Ministries of Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, Education, Agriculture and later Health under his predecessor as Borno Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.
Political career:
From 2007 to 2011, he served as Commissioner in 5 Ministries. In the January 2011 ANPP primaries, Engineer Modu Fannami Gubio was selected as candidate for the governorship. However, Gubio was later shot dead by gunmen, and Shettima was selected in a second primary in February 2011.
In the 26 April 2011 elections, Shettima won with 531,147 votes while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Muhammed Goni, gained 450,140 votes.
He won reelection in 2015 under the All Progressives Congress, APC and was unambiguously chosen as Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, an umbrella body of Governors in the 19 States located in northern Nigeria. He has so far been driving key changes in the affairs of the forum with focus on promoting northern unity and reviving ailing industries belonging to northern States.
As Governor of Borno State, he efficiently managed challenges arising from the Boko Haram insurgency which he inherited in 2011. With the approval of the National Security Adviser and the Nigerian Army in 2013, his government formalised establishment of youth volunteers called the Civilian JTF.
Senator Kashim Shettima’s leadership credentials have attracted positive recognition within and outside Nigeria. Governor Shettima emerged the 2014 Governor of the Year (Leadership Newspapers), Governor of the Year, 2015, (Nigeria Union of Journalists, national body); Governor of the Year, 2015 (NewsWatchTimes Newspapers); Governor of the Year, 2015 (Vanguard Newspapers); Governor of the Year, 2016 (Tell Magazine); 2017 Zik Prize for Leadership; Kaduna NUJ Award for courage and exceptional leadership (2017), FCT NUJ Merit Award for exceptional Leadership, 2017.
In February, 2019 he became the winner of the Borno Central Senatorial District election, thereby replacing Senator Babakaka Bashir.
Borno Central Senatorial District comprises eight local government areas: Maiduguri, Jere, Konduga, Bama, Mafa, Dikwa, Ngala and Kala Balge.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria’s 2023 election of culpability in the crisis rocking opposition parties in Nigeria.
This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka.
The statement was issued under the subject, ATIKU, YOUR POLITICAL DESPERATION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PDP’S CATASTROPHIC DISINTEGRATION.
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It reads, “The former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, like a badly broken record, has continued to point fingers at the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the festering rot in his party, and the spectacular dysfunction of opposition parties generally.
“At the national conference on Strengthening Democracy in Nigeria held in Abuja on Monday, January 27, 2025, Atiku, warned that the nation’s democracy was somewhat imperiled by judicial involvement in electoral matters. Also, without a shred of evidence, Atiku alleged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was paying certain opposition leaders a whooping 50 Million Naira each to discombobulate opposition parties in the country.
“It was in the Atiku era as Vice President, particularly in 2003 and 2007, that the PDP conducted the worst elections in our political history. We cannot possibly forget how Atiku’s PDP heavy-handedly captured most South-West states and vowed to remain in power for 60 years. It was in those same years that Atiku’s former boss and then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, infamously described election as a “do or die affair” in a desperate attempt to annex Lagos. If democracy was neither derailed nor endangered in those perilous days, is it now that elections are by far freer, fairer and more credible that Nigeria risks losing democracy?
“The judicial branch of government is a constitutional creation like the executive and legislative branches with its constitutionally defined powers to adjudicate disputes among citizens and between citizens and the state. Atiku cannot wish away or seek to abolish enshrined power of the courts to intervene in civil disputes, including electoral disputes, in cases where the authority of the court is validly invoked by a litigant.
“It is a thing of irony that Atiku, who is Nigeria’s most prolific electoral litigator, would make such a ludicrous claim that judicial involvement in electoral matters is a threat to democracy. His criticism of the courts and the electoral process rings hollow given his long history of using the courts to further his political agenda. It’s time for him to take a step back and let the democratic process unfold without his interference.
“Nigeria’s democracy is far stronger than Atiku’s political ambitions. We deserve better than petty politicking and alarmist rhetoric from an elder statesman. As a veteran politician, one would expect Atiku to understand that while democracy may be about winning election, it is, more importantly, about respecting the will of the electorate and working towards the greater good of all. Atiku should focus on rebuilding his party and offering constructive solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.
“Atiku’s allegation that the APC-led administration was paying out 50 Million Naira to some opposition figures is simply bogus and laughable. Atiku knows that his political desperation is responsible for the PDP’s catastrophic disintegration. Peddling rumors and unsubstantiated allegations should be beneath anyone in the standing of an elder statesman, a former Vice President and a serial contestant for the exalted office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The bizarre suggestion by opposition figures like Atiku, Peter Obi, and recently, aggrieved leaders like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai that our great Party may be complicit in the internal corrosion of opposition parties is pitiful, and only an incompetent alibi for their crass failure to manage their own affairs. They cannot govern their parties but tout their ability to govern Africa’s most populous country.
“As discerning citizens, Nigerians know better than to be distracted by the false alarm and hollow allegations of desperate politicians whose only goal is shore up their political relevance in the build up to 2027 general elections.”
The National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Samuel Anyanwu, has reaffirmed his position, stating that his election at the party’s national convention ensures that only another national convention can remove him from office.
Anyanwu made this assertion during a meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) members of South East extraction with party stakeholders from the region on Tuesday.
Addressing concerns about his tenure, the Senator detailed past attempts to undermine his position, which he described as politically motivated.
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He recounted, “In 2023, I expressed my intention to contest the governorship of my state. I formally informed the party that I would be away for three months and delegated my deputy to oversee my duties during my absence. However, unknown to me, the former South East Zonal Vice Chairman, Ali Odefa, was orchestrating plans to remove me from office.”
Anyanwu further alleged that Odefa manipulated the region’s sole PDP governor, Peter Mbah, into supporting his removal.
“He deceived the only governor we have in the South East to believe that I needed to be removed,” he said.
More to follow………..
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the last Edo State governorship election, Dr. Asue Ighodalo, has filed a ₦500 million defamation lawsuit against the acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Jarret Tenebe.
The suit, which was filed at the Lagos State High Court, Tafawa Balewa Square, seeks damages, a retraction of the alleged defamatory statement, and a public apology from Tenebe.
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The case stems from a statement made by Tenebe in a viral video on December 10, 2024, where he accused Ighodalo of corruption and misappropriation of state funds.
In the video, Tenebe alleged, “Asue Ighodalo will not make such a mistake because he has stolen billions before.”
The controversial remarks were made in response to a gaffe by Governor Monday Okpebholo during the presentation of his ₦605 billion budget estimates to the Edo State House of Assembly.
Prior to filing the lawsuit, Ighodalo, through his legal representatives, Banwo and Ighodalo, issued a pre-action notice on December 11, 2024, demanding an apology and a retraction of the statement within seven days.
However, Tenebe, through his lawyer, Dr. Blessing Agbomhere, denied any wrongdoing and refused to comply with the demands.
“We further want to state unequivocally that our client did not defame your client in any way, and as such, there is no need for a public apology or retraction of comments made in the alleged video,” Agbomhere said in a written response.
“But if your client decides to stretch this issue further by going to court, we will rely on the defence of justification in accordance with the report of the Edo State Vehicle Recovery Committee, whose report indicted your client, and the preliminary report of the Edo State Asset Verification Committee.”
In his suit, Ighodalo argues that the viral video was intended to damage his reputation and expose him to public ridicule.
He claims the statement has caused significant distress and embarrassment, as many of his colleagues, business partners, and stakeholders have questioned the allegations.
“Undoubtedly, this development has exposed our Client to great distress, hurt, and humiliation,” the pre-action notice stated.
Ighodalo is urging the court to order Tenebe to issue a public apology and retraction within seven days of the judgment, alongside awarding him ₦500 million in damages for the harm caused to his reputation.
The case is scheduled to be heard by Justice A.O. Opesanwo on March 5, 2025.
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