By Eshioromeh Sebastian
Vice President Kashim Shettima has disclosed that only six of the 19 northern governors backed President Bola Tinubu’s presidential bid in the 2023 general election.
Shettima made the disclosure on Wednesday at the palace of Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, the Emir of Ilorin, during the turbaning of Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as the Sardauna of Ilorin Emirate.
According to the Vice-President, despite the limited support from northern governors, Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), went on to win the election.
“Most of the governors in the north were not in support of Tinubu’s presidential bid. Out of the 19 northern governors, only six supported him,” Shettima said.
He, however, declined to name the governors who supported Tinubu at the time, saying he would stop at mentioning former Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello and Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, who were both present at the event, to avoid controversy.
“Apart from former Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger, seated here, and Malam AbdurRahman AbdulRazaq… to avoid controversy, I will stop naming the names of the other governors,” he said.
“But the governors that were supporting President Tinubu in the north were not more than six. However, Tinubu refused to be deterred. He was able to cross the road.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Tinubu winner of the 2023 presidential election with 8,794,726 votes. Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 6,984,520 votes to finish second, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) came third with 6,101,533 votes.
Before the election, the APC controlled 14 of the 19 northern states, including Borno, Gombe and Yobe in the North-East; Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara in the North-West; and Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa and Niger in the North-Central. The PDP controlled the remaining five states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Plateau and Taraba.
Tinubu hugged and forgave northern governors — Shettima
The Vice-President said Tinubu demonstrated true leadership after the election by reaching out to the northern governors who did not support his 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.
Shettima said the experience should teach politicians that electoral disagreements should not permanently divide political actors, urging politicians in Kwara to reconcile after the APC primaries irrespective of whoever emerges as the candidate.
Power is temporary, serve with humility — VP
Shettima also urged politicians and public officials to serve with humility, saying political offices are temporary.
“Power is given by God to the people He so wishes and not because they are better than other people,” he said.
He said those who occupy public positions would eventually return to ordinary life and should therefore use their time in office to serve the people.
We inherited $3.9bn, chose to tackle challenges — Shettima
The Vice-President also defended the Tinubu administration’s management of the economy, saying the government chose to tackle the challenges it inherited rather than spend its time apportioning blame.
He said the administration inherited about $3.9 billion in its coffers and faced difficult economic circumstances when it assumed office, adding that Tinubu remains focused on implementing reforms despite the difficulties confronting the country.
Shettima further said the President’s political style was influenced by that of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he described as a politician who would not allow himself to be arm-twisted during political negotiations.
The ceremony was attended by several governors, political leaders, traditional rulers and other dignitaries.
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