SHETTIMA CLARIFIES COMMENT ON NORTHERN GOVERNORS’ SUPPORT FOR TINUBU

The Office of the Vice President has clarified Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments about the support President Bola Tinubu received from northern governors ahead of the 2022 All Progressives Congress presidential primary.

Shettima had said that only six of the 19 northern governors believed in and supported Tinubu during the period leading to the 2023 presidential election.

Speaking in Ilorin on Wednesday, Shettima identified former Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as two of the six governors but declined to name the others.

He also said Tinubu later reconciled with northern governors who did not support his presidential bid, describing the President’s decision to forgive them as a mark of good leadership.

However, in a statement on Thursday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, said Shettima’s comments referred specifically to political consultations and alignments before the APC primary in June 2022.

Nkwocha said the statement should not be interpreted as suggesting that northern APC governors failed to support Tinubu after he emerged as the party’s presidential candidate.

According to him, northern APC governors rallied behind Tinubu after the primary and played important roles in the campaign that led to his victory in the 2023 general election.

The Vice President’s office said Shettima holds the northern governors and other APC leaders in high regard and recognises their contributions to the party’s success and Tinubu’s emergence.

Nkwocha added that Shettima regretted any interpretation of his remarks that suggested otherwise, saying the clarification was intended to place the comments in their proper context.