A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has cautioned the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, over his decision to pick Kashim Shettima as his running mate.
Tinubu who is a Muslim had on Sunday announced his decision to choose a Muslim running mate, Shettima, a move which has continued to divide Nigerians.
According to Lawal, although Tinubu remained “a very good man” and “very generous in both cash and kind, especially where it could advance his political interests…sycophants and lapdogs have the most influence on leaders with such character traits.”
He also questioned the personality of Shettima, whom he described as an “overambitious man who has a Machiavellian bent”.
Lawal said, “And why Kashim Shettima? He is an overambitious man who has a Machiavellian bent and has lots of money with which to procure a preferred-candidate status among Tinubu’s lapdogs. And as we are beginning to see, to also procure bogus supporters, especially from among the Christian community to help launder his not-so-good image.
“But as a popular proverb goes: ‘Those whom the gods want to destroy they first make mad’. It appears that the gods want to destroy the APC and its Presidential Candidate and have chosen the instrumentality of the northern Moslem governors and their super ambitious tool, Kashim Ibrahim, for this purpose. Alhaji Kashim Shettima is a Greek gift from the Northern governors to Tinubu. I advise Bola to make sure Kashima’s two hands are always in his plain sight and empty.”
“So if my very good friend Tinubu in a desperate bid to become President allows himself to be made into a religious bigot or even a mujahideen, he is welcome. But it is a risk that will not play out positively for his presidential bid,” he added.
