The former Governor of Borno State and running mate of the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Kashim Shettima, has reaffirmed that the position of the presidency is not the olympics, hence, the issue of age and health status of the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is not up for questioning.
Shettima made this statement during the Lagos State banquet with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), after the inauguration of several projects in the state.
His comment comes as a response to the controversies surrounding the age and health of the APC presidential candidate as many argue that he is not fit to lead the country.
It also comes days after Tinubu was said to have slept off during a peace committee meeting.
Tinubu, who is currently vying for the position of presidency come February 25 election, was a former governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, and had reportedly created a blueprint with which the succeeding administration’s have been working with.
He said, “There’s this mischievous fixation on Asiwaju’s health and age. We are not asking Nigerians to turn down critical assessment of their leaders but we direct them to look at the larger picture, we are not preparing for the olympics but an institution that thrives on the superiority of ideas and established track record.”
Speaking on the projects commissioned by Buhari, which included the Imota Rice Mill and the Lekki Dep Sea Port, Shettima argued that the projects were made possible because of the prevailing environment created by Tinubu during his time as the governor of Lagos.
“Today, our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, commissioned the Imota rice mill. This is the largest in the world, producing 2.8m bags of 50kg rice per annum
“But Lagos state is the smallest state in Nigeria in terms of land mass, 3577 sqkm, but the beauty of the Lagos idea is that it provides an avenue for national cohesion because the Imota rice mill is a product of the venture between the government of Kebbi state and the government of Lagos state.
“Nigeria has a coastline of 850km, covering 8 states. The single largest investment in this country is the $25bn Dangote refinery, the single largest single train refinery in the world, covering 1000 hectares of prime land bigger than Victoria Island, producing 3m metric tonnes of fertilizer per annum, 1m metric tonnes of polypropylene and processing refined 650,000 barrels of oil per day.
“It’s because of the enabling environment, the welcoming environment that Asiwaju provided here in Lagos, that made it possible for Asiwaju, that made it possible for Alhaji Aliko Dangote to site his refinery in Lagos, he could have sited it in Ondo, in Ogun, in Rivers, there are eight states along the coastline but he opted for Lagos.”
