Drop Shettima for a Christian running mate - APC youths tell Tinubu

How it happened: The youths and supporters, numbering over 200 from the North-Central zone, staged a protest in Abuja on Friday, August 19, 2022, to press home their demand, The Punch reports.

The demonstrators, under the aegis of the North Central Progressives Youths, matched to the Presidential Villa from the Unity Fountain.

The demand: They called on the party's presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to replace his running mate, the former Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, with a Christian.

While chanting solidarity songs, the youth from the six North-Central states and the Federal Capital Territory held banners with inscriptions such as, ‘APC presidential ticket must be for all faith’, ‘Shettima must go now, all Christians say no to Islamisation of APC presidential ticket’, ‘Tinubu and Shettima must do the needful, it is our constitutional right’, and ‘Don’t destroy the unity of Nigeria’, among others.

Way forward: The President of the group, Musa Attah, while describing Tinubu as a “man loved and adored by Nigerians,” said the only impediment to his victory in the 2023 presidential election would his choice of running mate.

He therefore called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on Tinubu to reconsider his choice for the good of the party and Nigeria.

Buhari's legacies: Attah noted that with achievements in infrastructure, anti-corruption and good governance, the President has etched his name in history and he must protect his legacies by working towards a worthy successor who can consolidate his gains.

Attah's words: “Mr President, on numerous occasions you have promised to bequeath a democratic system imbued with workable institutional structures that will stand the test of time. True to your word, the nation’s electoral system has been revolutionised.

“Your footprints will never be forgotten in the area of infrastructure. The fact that there’s still a country called Nigeria is due to your resilience despite the mirage of security challenges. We are also coping with the global economic crisis. Meanwhile, the trial of the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation and many others has proven your zero tolerance for corruption. There are no sacred cows.”