Youths of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in northern Nigeria, united under the banner of the North-East Youths and Stakeholders Forum, have reiterated their refusal to support Kashim Shettima, the ruling party’s vice presidential candidate.
According to Punch, the youth forum, which had lobbied for the rotation of the slot to the northeast, is now firm in its position on Shettima ahead of the 2023 general elections.
According to the youths, the former Borno governor is to blame for the massive defection that has hit the ruling party in the region, a situation that they believe will jeopardize the APC’s chances of victory in the upcoming elections.
According to the forum’s acting chairman, Shaibu Tilde, in a statement released on Thursday, January 12, the APC lost some key members during the defection gale, including zonal women leader, Amina Manga, from Bauchi, who defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) along with many other women leaders.
The youths claimed that Shettima’s snub and casual attitude had undermined their efforts to bring the APC to victory.
Furthermore, they slammed the APC’s Presidential Campaign Council spokesman, Festus Keyamo, for describing their position as a money-laundering plot.
The following was part of the statement:
Firstly, it’s clearly manifest that Mr Keyamo does not understand the calibre of the youth and the extent of their fibre in the North-East region of the party and therefore can resort to calling us names as ‘cheap blackmailers’. This is rather unfortunate that the spokesman of our party has turned his war arsenal against his fellow party men with a common goal to win the 2023 election.
“No one can deny the gale of defection our party has suffered in the region in the last few months. Our group noted with dismay that the Senior Advocate of Nigeria rather than being introspective on the germane issues we raised that are affecting the fortunes of our party in the region chose to play to the gallery by calling us blackmailers and attention seekers. This is unfortunate and quite shameful.”
“Finally, it will do our party much good to address the gale of defection it’s suffering from the region as a result of the action of our vice presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima. Turning a blind eye to grievances will amount to fatal consequences. We the North-East APC youth stakeholders remain committed to the success of our party and its presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, come February 25.”