The Tinubu Campaign Organisation has said the selection of the former Borno State Governor, Sen. Kashim Shettima, as the running mate of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, was not based on ethnicity or religion, noting that Nigerians have a lot to gain in the party’s presidential ticket.

TCO stated that Tinubu picked “a tested politician and technocrat”, as the APC’s vice-presidential candidate, adding that Shettima alongside Tinubu were fit to tackle the challenges bewildering the country.

The campaign organisation made this known via a statement issued on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.

Onanuga, in a statement titled, “Tinubu picked Shettima for our common good’, noted that “if Asiwaju intended to cash in on ethnicity, he would have picked a running mate from the North Western part of Nigeria, which has the highest number of registered voters.

“If he wanted to appeal to the base instincts of religion, he would have also gone for a candidate in the Christian dominated parts of Nigeria.

“But there was no such consideration. Instead he picked a tested politician and technocrat from the minority Kanuri ethnic group from the North East.

“The factors at play were issues germane to confronting the multi-dimensional crisis our nation faces today: insecurity, economic problems, such as the unemployment crisis facing our youths.

“Our candidate canvassed on his track record in Lagos to win the APC primary last June. As governor between 1999 and 2007, he was able to transform a decadent state into the fourth biggest economy in Africa. He believes that his feat in Lagos can be replicated all over Nigeria.

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“To assist him in realising this vision, he picked Kashim Shettima, who also established a track record of development in Borno State while he was governor for eight years, despite the Boko Haram crisis. Surely, only the deep knows how to call onto the deep.

“Nigerians have a lot to gain in having the two tested leaders at the helm of affairs.

“Naturally, some Nigerians with closet motives have failed to see the opportunities and possibilities the twin candidates present to our country at this time of difficult security, economic and political developments, preferring to fan the embers of religion and ethnic divisions among their unsuspecting and vulnerable compatriots,” the TCO spokesman stated.

He further appealed to Nigerians to “embrace the best elements of our common purpose and reject the campaign and incitement against fellow citizens”, saying when the citizens stand together, “they have been known to achieve incredibly positive outcomes”.

Onanuga added: “To now succumb to the base ends of identity, by further straining our already difficult ethnic and religious cleavages, is a great disservice to the country and to citizens who had no choice about their parentage, ethnicity or religion at birth.

“Either as christians, muslims or traditional worshipers, as Nigerians, what should be important to us today and tomorrow is our commonwealth as citizens of this great nation.”

The Star