Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Sunday, told a cross section of the Yoruba that President Muhammadu Buhari rejected to nominate a running mate for him, Tinubu.
Asiwaju Tinubu spoke in Akure on Sunday, at the residence of Pa Reuben Fasoranti, where he met with members of the apex Yoruba socio-political Group, Afenifere. He presented his agenda to them, and was endorsed.
Explaining to them how much confidence Buhari has in him, and how much backing the President and the North have given him, the Presidential candidate said: “Northern APC Governors resolved that the Presidency must go to the South, especially, the South-west. Governors Nasir El-Rufai, Abdullahi Ganduje and others supported me to the end. The battle was tough, and at a point, I was in doubt. There were many rumours, and I became confused of what to believe.
He said he enjoys, fully, the support of the President, and disclosed that Buhari has assured him of victory in 2023.
Tinubu; “President Buhari told me I promoted his name the way I won the Primary election because the process was clean and transparent and nobody can accuse him of manipulating the process. President Buhari said I gave him credibility and I deserved to be President.
“When I asked him to nominate the VP candidate for me, he said I should pick whoever I wanted, and it is the reason I chose a competent man in Kashim Shettima who never lost any election and protected Christians in time of trouble in his State.”
The choice of Shettima, a fellow Muslim, by Tinubu, has polarised both the APC and religious bodies.