CITIZENS COMPASS— Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, on Saturday, expressed fear over the internal division within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) even as the 2027 general elections draw closer.
Shettima said he fears the divisions more than he fears the presidential candidates of the opposition parties, particularly Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar.
He spoke in Abuja during the unveiling of the campaign head office of Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A), a northern coalition backing the Tinubu/Shettima ticket and formally inaugurated its campaign structure.
According to Shettima: Honestly, I am not afraid of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP. I am not afraid of a diminished Peter Obi. But I am more afraid of internal contradictions within our household. If we unite as a people, as a family, we will conquer.
“There is no point in championing the cause of the presidential election and then undermining the governor in the gubernatorial election. Honestly, it will not go down well with the system.
“Let’s rally round our governors. Let’s rally round our members of the National Assembly. Let’s rally around President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and see to victory in the next round of elections.
“By now, I believe the North has spoken. We have spoken with a resounding voice and unmistakable conviction. From Adamawa to Zamfara, from Borno to Niger, we have spoken.
“In less than 100 days, Nigerians will return to the polls. Democracy requires us to seek their confidence again, with humility about the work outstanding and conviction about the cause we have chosen.
“Go and perform. Go and defeat Baba Atiku. Defeat him respectfully.
“There are 176,845 polling units across the country. The APC, from ward to local government levels, has 361,045 officials. What it means is that we can match every polling unit two to two.
“Politics is still local. Let him account for his performance at his polling unit, at his ward unit and in his local government.
“Out of 19 states in the North. Every household struggling to make ends meet reminds us how much remains to be done. We lose our hearing when applause becomes our only source of information.
“When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed the mantle of leadership in this country, what we had in our foreign reserves was a country with 3.9 billion dollars, barely enough to import oil for one month. And our Ways and Means expenditure was over N27 trillion.
“Nigeria was on the road to Caracas. The economy was teetering on the brink of collapse. He literally saved the nation.
“For the first time in nearly 18 years, our foreign reserves are in the neighbourhood of 58.9 billion dollars.
“For the North, we have absolutely nothing to fear in a Tinubu second term. He has the North at heart.
