The vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Sen. Kashim Shettima, has said the APC\u2019s 2023 presidential ticket represents \u201cNigerian project\u201d.<\/p>\n
Shettima said his acceptance as the running mate of the APC presidential standard-bearer, Bola Tinubu, has indicated Nigerians have hope in the party\u2019s presidential ticket, adding that his acceptance as the party\u2019s vice-presidential candidate was an assurance that the citizens were again prepared to choose competence over sentiment.<\/p>\n
The former governor of Borno State said this in Abuja at his unveiling as the APC\u2019s vice-presidential candidate for the 2023 general election.<\/p>\n
He further stated that the success of the APC in the past two presidential elections was not \u201cmagic shows\u201d, saying it was a reward for the party\u2019s \u201cforesighted, and pragmatic decisions, to sacrifice our personal interests and sectional sentiments, for the overriding prospects of our great party.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are again on the cusp of history, and left with no option, other than collaborating assiduously again, to pursue the collective interest of APC\u2019s stakeholders, across ethnic, religious, and regional stations.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving led us through two successful elections, and resisted the bait to impose a successor, President Muhammadu Buhari remains the man of the season; a leader who must be remembered, for passing the torch to the choice of the party\u2019s majority, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,\u201d Shettima said.<\/p>\n
He noted that his emergence as the running mate of Tinubu was based on the party\u2019s forthright assessment of the threats ahead, noting that the APC\u2019s presidential ticket was not an imposition.<\/p>\n
The former governor stated the party\u2019s ticket was an outcome of \u201cdemocracy at its practical best\u201d, saying it was based on the aggregation of the ideas and insights, of the party\u2019s stakeholders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this were an unpopular option, as the cast of partisan provocateurs has attempted to paint, there wouldn\u2019t have been the tonnes of goodwill messages, especially from distinguished Christians, from all over the country. This ticket is a Nigerian project, not a sectional agenda, that the frightened camps have been struggling to sensationalise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sincerely proud of the rational citizens, who view this, as nothing but a pragmatic permutation, to defeat our opponents at the polls, and based on acknowledgment and implementation of the candid perspectives of our Christian brothers and sisters in the APC, who, like us, are bound by the passion for us to retain power, in order to deepen the delivery of unifying and transformative governance, to Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout thirty years ago, Nigerians from both sides of the Niger, came together to market the ideals of a ticket like ours. They overlooked the pedestrian attempts to politicize the religious affiliations of<\/p>\n
the presidential candidate and running mate, and yielded to the message of hope; and the manifesto of prosperity promised them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe ticket, defied the stereotype of Nigerians, as hopelessly sectional, and incapable of prioritizing reason over sentiments. That ticket, even though it was opposed by the same agents that doubted its success, has remained the best moment, of our various experiments with democracy, so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis reincarnation of the 30-year-old hope that produced the late MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe, came at a time the country is being pushed to the edge of anarchy, by conflict entrepreneurs, in gaudy suits and babanriga,\u201d Shettima added.<\/p>\n
The senator further stated that the endorsement of Tinubu at the APC presidential primaries in Abuja by aspirants and his subsequent election by party\u2019s delegates was a clear message that \u201cNigerians are beyond the stereotypes of those desperate to tear the people apart\u201d.<\/p>\n
Shettima said: \u201cThe goodwill messages that have poured in, since the announcement of my selection, as running mate, to the high-performing Jagaban Borgu, easily underscore the depth of hope that our people are investing, in the ticket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all witnessed the decisive blows dealt the bigotry dispensed by a hopeless minority, ahead of the APC presidential primaries, last June. The futility of their propaganda, showed that Nigerians aren\u2019t the unthinking robots some are quick to call them.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigerians are rational beings, with the capability to tell an invidious agenda apart, from sincere concern for them. They are not the uncritical consumers of clickbait and falsehoods, as some of us think they are. They see through the bigots, masquerading as patriots and, very importantly, they know those who represent their interests, even in the quietest and darkest of meeting rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former governor further expressed his appreciation to the leadership of the ruling party, who consulted widely to choose Tinubu\u2019s running mate for the 2023 general election, saying he was grateful for \u201cthe opportunity to be a part of this history\u201d.<\/p>\n
Shettima equally expressed his readiness \u201cto deliver Nigeria to a future defined by fast-evolving technologies, that will propel us towards guaranteed national security, economic boom, youth engagement, mass employment, high-quality education, and, of course, uncompromising national cohesion.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Sen. Kashim Shettima, has said the APC\u2019s 2023 presidential ticket represents \u201cNigerian project\u201d. Shettima said his acceptance as the running mate of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n