Nine governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, after an hour-long closed-door conference with President Muhammad Buhari at his private home in Daura, Katsina State, confirmed their support for Senator Kashim Shettima as running mate to the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu in the 2023 general election.
The governors, led by the chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State, comprising their host, Aminu Masari (Katsina), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Abubakar Bello (Niger), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Hope Uzodimma (Imo), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), said they had come to pay Sallah honor to President Buhari.
They expressed certainty in the combination of both Tinubu and Shettima to ensure success for the party in the presidential election.
Sources, however, disclosed to the media that APC governors from the Northwest geopolitical zone have denounced the choice of Shettima.
A former governor from one of the states, who is now a senator, told that incumbent governors from the zone are hurtful to Tinubu for detesting their demand that one of them should be considered.
He disclosed that during a zone close series of consultative meetings, the APC presidential candidate was given purposes why he should pick an incumbent, especially from Northwest, but he regretted that Tinubu humiliated the governors after they worked for his emergence.
“The governors are very angry now and I do not know how this is going to affect our participation in the election next year. We all know the place of governors in the scheme of things in this country.
He also stated: “Things are going to be very tough for us in the zone close-door because you have seen that the Labour Party has selected its presidential running mate from Northwest. We all thought that Tinubu would settle for El-Rufai or Abubakar Bagudu. He has disheartened everybody and this is a sign of the kind of government he wants to run.”
