O. Adejo
Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has condemned the choice of Kashim Shettima as the running mate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
Lawal, a Tinubu supporter, said in a statement that choosing a Muslim as Tinubu’s running mate amounted to exclusion and would not bode well for the party even if it won the election next year.
The former SGF described Tinubu as a close friend and stated that he has always wished for him to succeed Buhari as President of Nigeria. He did, however, claim that Tinubu’s past body language and snippets of conversations with his close allies indicated that the Presidential candidate was going for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
He claimed to have debated the pros and cons of such a decision with Tinubu in both verbal and written form. Unfortunately, he believes Tinubu has been cornered by self-serving and hero-worshipping lapdogs who want to profit from Tinubu’s generosity.
Babachir Lawal also believes Kashim Shettima is an overly ambitious running mate who must be closely monitored by Tinubu to avoid being used.
However, he believes that running a Muslim-Muslim ticket will cost the party votes next year. He urged Buhari, or whoever is in a position to do so, to persuade Tinubu to reconsider his choice of running mate.
Babachir Lawal rejects Tinubu’s Choice of Running Mate