The National Vice Chairman (North-East) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mustapha Salihu, has explained his decision to publicly endorse President Bola Tinubu for a second term without mentioning Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Salihu said his decision was based on party tradition and constitutional guidelines.
He noted that during the APC North-East summit held on Sunday in Gombe, endorsements are typically reserved for the party’s presidential candidate, in this case, Bola Tinubu.
“In my full speech—the last paragraph before the endorsement, I eulogised Kashim Shettima, recognising him as our son and expressing that we stand by him as people of the North-East.
“I also appreciated the national security adviser as our son, whom we are proud of you and acknowledged all the ministers and parastatals given to North-East indigenes, thanking Asiwaju [Tinubu] for that, before calling for the endorsement of him as the sole presidential candidate.
“It will interest you to know that in party politics, we have only one ticket at the primary stage for the executive chairman, local government chairman, governors, and president. There is no provision in our constitution that allows for the endorsement of a joint ticket at that level.
“It is only after the primaries, when a candidate emerges, that he chooses a running mate. That choice remains the constitutional prerogative of the presidential candidate, even though consultations may occur,” he said.
He explained that this was the same reasoning behind the endorsements by Governors Mai Mala Buni of Yobe and Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe, who also backed Tinubu without including Shettima, though they acknowledged the vice president warmly as “our own.”