All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was on Friday, July 22, absent as President Muhammadu Buhari hosted a delegation led by the APC’ stakeholders at the State House, Abuja.
The delegation consisted of the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase; the APC Vice Presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima; as well as other key members of the party.
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Also present were former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole; former Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbe; as well as former Chief of Air Staff Air Marshall Sadiq Abubakar.
Members of the Progressives Governors Forum in attendance included Babagana Zulum of Borno, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa and Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi.
Additionally, a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff; as well as Senator representing Taraba South Senatorial District, Emmanuel Bwacha, were also in attendance.
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The visit comes about two days after Shettima was unveiled as Tinubu’s substantive running mate.
Speaking after the meeting, former Borno State Governor, who was at the Villa to see Buhari on Wednesday, told journalists that he “felt morally bound” to thank the president personally, before returning with a larger delegation on Friday.
But while reacting to agitations over the Muslim-Muslim ticket floated by his party; he said the APC ticket was not designed to protect the interests of one faith as there were religious leaders to do that.
“In Borno, we spent over N1bn naira rebuilding churches destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgency. …This legacy has been continued by Governor Babagana Zulum. We have taken more Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem than some of the Northern states headed by Christians.
“So, we have that history of inclusivity, of togetherness. What we need is competent leadership. We are not coming into government to represent the Muslim or the Christian faith. The Sultan of Sokoto is eminently qualified to protect Muslim interests…Also, the CAN president is eminently qualified to defend Christian interests as well,” he said.
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