The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has said that Asiwaju, the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), could have chosen a Christian or a politician from the North West as his running.
Instead, he settled for former Borno state governor, Kashim Shettima, because religion and ethnicity was not part of Tinubu’s political calculations.
This was disclosed in a statement on Tuesday, signed by the TCO Director of Media and Communication, Bayo Onanuga.
Onanuga’s clarification comes on the eve of Shettima’s unveiling, which is scheduled for Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja by 11am on Wednesday.
The statement read, “If he wanted to appeal to the base instincts of religion, he would have also gone for a candidate in the Christian-dominated parts of Nigeria. But there was no such consideration. Instead, he picked a tested politician and technocrat from the minority Kanuri ethnic group from the North East.
“The factors at play were issues germane to confronting the multi-dimensional crisis our nation faces today: insecurity, economic problems, such as the unemployment crisis facing our youths. Our candidate canvassed on his track record in Lagos to win the APC primary last June. As governor between 1999 and 2007, he transformed a decadent state into the fourth biggest economy in Africa. He believes his feat in Lagos can be replicated all over Nigeria.”