Barring any last-minute change, the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC will formally unveil, Kassim Shettima its Vice Presidential Candidate, to the public on Wednesday, July 20.
The party had last week postponed the unveiling in order to consult more with supporters and other Nigerians on the way forward, sources in the party told the magazine.
The choice of Shettima by the presidential candidate of the party Ahmed Tinubu, had received mixed reactions from not a few Nigerians who said a muslim-Mulsim ticket will not augur well for the country, and may polarized it the more along religious lines.
The umbrella body of Christians in the country, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN has contended that the Muslim-Muslim ticket is a slap on Christians across the country.
Some APC members have even resigned in protest. Others have called on Tinubu to change Shettima as his running mate. The former Lagos state governor has stuck to his gun, saying former Borno state governor is ‘loyal and competent’ to assist him if he wins the 2023 presidential election.
The National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu on his part described Shettima’s pick as ‘the work of God’.
Close watchers of the party told the magazine that the party is still trying to resolve the rancour within its rank, but in spite of this has decided to go ahead with the unveiling in order not to send a wrong signal to the public about Shettima’s candidacy.
“The party has made up its mind on the issue. Besides, there’s no room for substitution after the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has expires,” a reliable APC source said on Tuesday.
According to a terse statement on signed by the party’s National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Muhammad Argungu, the unveiling event will take place at Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja at 11:00am.
“All Members of the National Executive Committee (NEC), Members of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Members of APC Caucus in the National Assembly, Members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Presidential Aspirants at the June 2022 Special National Convention, APC State Chairmen, APC State Secretaries and APC State Organising Secretaries, are, hereby, invited to witness this landmark Official Unveiling of our Great Party’s Vice Presidential Candidate,” Argungu said.
Meanwhile, the magazine learnt that the gale of defections from the party over the Muslim-Muslim ticket will continue ahead next year’s election, even though the party and Tinubu are working very hard to get Nigerians understanding on the issue.
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