Vice-President Kashim Shettima has disclosed that only six of the 19 northern governors supported President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidential bid ahead of the 2023 general election.
Shettima made the disclosure on Wednesday at the palace of the Emir of Ilorin, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, during the turbaning of Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as the Sardauna of Ilorin Emirate.
According to the Vice-President, Tinubu faced considerable opposition from political actors in the North during the build-up to the 2023 election but remained committed to pursuing the presidency.
Shettima identified former Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as two of those who supported Tinubu, but declined to name the other four.
He said he chose not to disclose their identities in order to avoid creating controversy.
“You all know that we have 19 states in the north. Out of these, only six actually believed and supported Tinubu,” Shettima said.
The Vice-President said the experience demonstrated the importance of maintaining relationships despite disagreements during political contests.
Tinubu reconciled with former opponents
Shettima said Tinubu reached out to northern governors who had not supported his presidential bid after the 2023 election.
He described the President’s decision to reconcile with those political figures as an example of how politicians should handle disagreements after elections.
“After the 2023 election, President Tinubu hugged and forgave all other northern governors that did not support him,” Shettima said.
He made the remarks while urging politicians in Kwara State to reconcile following disagreements arising from the All Progressives Congress primaries.
Shettima advised political actors not to allow internal contests to permanently damage relationships, regardless of who emerges as a candidate.
Northern political landscape in 2023
The North had 19 states at the time of the 2023 presidential election. The APC controlled 14 of them, while the Peoples Democratic Party controlled five.
Tinubu, the APC candidate, ultimately won the presidential election with 8,794,726 votes, according to results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Atiku Abubakar of the PDP finished second with 6,984,520 votes, while Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third with 6,101,533 votes.
Shettima also used the occasion to defend the Tinubu administration’s handling of the economy, saying the government had concentrated on addressing the challenges it inherited rather than spending its time assigning blame.
He said the administration inherited difficult economic circumstances and had less than $3.9 billion in the country’s reserves when it assumed office.
The Vice-President maintained that the administration remained focused on implementing its economic reforms despite the challenges confronting the country.
