The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was conspicuously absent at the party’s stakeholders meeting being hosted Friday afternoon by President Muhammadu Buhari at State House, Abuja. His running mate in the 2023 election, Kashim Shettima was however present.
Others present at the meeting are the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, Chairman of Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, Governors of Borno, Yobe, Nasarawa, Gombe, Babagana Zulum, Mai Mala Buni, Abdullahi Sule and Yahaya Inuwa respectively.
Also present are thee APC Deputy National Chairman South, Emma Enuku, Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, Idris Wada, former Speaker of House of Representatives,, Dimeji Bankole among others.
The stakeholders meeting came about two days after Shettima was unveiled as Tinubu’s substantive running mate.
The former Borno State Governor who was at the Villa to see Buhari on Wednesday told journalists that he “felt morally bound” to thank the president personally, before returning with a larger delegation on Friday.
Reacting to agitations over the Muslim-Muslim ticket floated by his party, he said the APC ticket is not designed to protect the interests of one faith as there are religious leaders to do that.
“In Borno, we spent over N1bn naira rebuilding churches destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgency. And this legacy has been continued by Governor Babagana Zulum. We have taken more Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem than some of the Northern States headed by Christians.
“So, we have that history of inclusivity, of togetherness. What we need is competent leadership. We are not coming into government to represent the Muslim or the Christian faith. The Sultan of Sokoto is eminently qualified to protect Muslim interests and the CAN president is eminently qualified to defend Christian interests as well,” he said.