By: Mohammed Oluwatimileyin Taoheed
Hon. Adebayo Shittu, the Director-General of Asiwaju Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organisation, has justified the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
Recall that Mr.Bola Tinubu, the presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress, had earlier selected Kashim Shettima, a two-term past Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate.
Following its announcement, different individuals, political stakeholders and groups have condemned Tinubu, who is a Muslim, for choosing another Muslim as his vice presidential candidate.
Shittu asserted that Tinubu was right to have chosen Shettima as his running mate and should not be crucified for it.
The APC leader maintained that the South West is predominantly occupied by 65% Muslims, adding that his claim was based on fact.
The former Minister of Communications added that the knocks over the Muslim-Muslim ticket was based on religion and not competence.
Shittu argued that people are not complaining about the Christian-Christian ticket in Ekiti, Ondo and Edo States, asking Nigerians to ignore religious sentiment.
He said: “In the South-West of Nigeria, the Muslims constitute an average of 65% of the population.
“It is on the basis of religion that people are making noise about the so-called Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“In Ekiti, it is a Christian-Christian ticket. In Ondo, it is a Christian-Christian ticket. In Edo, where the Northern part of the state is largely Muslim, it is a Christian-Christian ticket. Nobody is making noise about this.”
When asked to speak about Oyetola’s defeat in the Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Osun State, Hon. Shittu commented that the defeat of the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola and APC was a very big disappointment.
“The Osun incident was a very big disappointment. But for some of us, it was not too surprising and I regret to say this.
He claimed: “A lot of factors must have contributed to what happened”.
