The National Vice Chairman (North-East) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mustapha Salihu, has clarified why his public endorsement of President Bola Tinubu did not include Vice President Kashim Shettima, amid growing rumours of internal friction within the party.
Salihu explained that his omission of Shettima’s name during the endorsement at Sunday’s APC North-East summit in Gombe was in line with party convention and constitutional provisions.
“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, 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,” he said.