By Oscar Okhifo
Vice President Kashim Shettima has clarified his controversial remark that only six northern governors supported President Bola Tinubu, saying he was referring to political consultations ahead of the June 2022 All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary, not the 2023 presidential election.
The clarification came on Thursday, a day after Shettima made the remark at the palace of the Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, during the turbaning of Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as the Sardauna of Ilorin Emirate.
Speaking at the ceremony on Wednesday, Shettima said: “You all know that we have 19 states in the North. Out of these, only six actually believed and supported Tinubu.”
He identified AbdulRazaq and former Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello as two of the six governors but declined to name the other four, saying he wanted to avoid controversy.
Shettima also said Tinubu had reconciled with northern governors who did not initially support his presidential ambition.
“After the 2023 election, President Tinubu hugged and forgave all other northern governors that did not support him. That is a mark of a good leader,” he said.
The remarks were subsequently widely reported as suggesting that only six of the 19 northern governors had supported Tinubu’s 2023 presidential bid.
However, in a clarification issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima said his reference to the six governors was specifically about political consultations and alignments preceding the APC presidential primary in June 2022.
“It was not a comment on the position of northern APC governors following President Tinubu’s emergence as the party’s candidate, nor was it intended to question their support during the 2023 presidential election,” the statement said.
According to the statement, northern APC governors rallied behind Tinubu after the party’s presidential primary and played important roles in his campaign and the electoral process that culminated in his victory in the 2023 general election.
It added that Tinubu’s emergence as the APC presidential candidate became an “aligning moment” as governors across the country rallied behind him.
Shettima’s office also stressed that the Vice President holds northern governors and other APC leaders in high regard and recognises their individual and collective contributions to the party’s success and Tinubu’s emergence as President.
The Vice President, through his aide, expressed regret over any interpretation of his remarks that may have suggested otherwise, saying he hoped the clarification would place the comments in their proper context.
The clarification comes as political activities ahead of the 2027 elections intensify, with the roles played by northern political leaders in Tinubu’s emergence as the APC presidential candidate and his subsequent 2023 victory increasingly featuring in political discourse.