Coalition of Arewa Youths for Peace and National Development (COAYPANU), a youth organization in the North, has dispensed with Senator Kashim Shettima, the party’s vice presidential candidate.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, the organisation announced this in a statement released on Sunday by its National President, Alhaji Mohammed Gwadabe.
Gwadabe claimed that Shettima’s dismissal was motivated by his contentious remark against Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) 2023 presidential candidate.
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He declared that the previous governor of Borno had been fired immediately and that his remarks did not reflect the ideals of the organization.
Recall that Shettima had during an interview on Arise TV last week said that Obi could best be a president in Igboland and not a Nigerian President.
He had said: “Presidential position is not for the unprepared neither is it an all comers’ affair. Peter Obi can only become a President in Igboland but definitely not in Nigeria. Nigeria is too big for him to handle.
“He has no leadership ideology nor experiences like President Muhammadu and our incoming President in the person of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
In response, Gwadabe denounced Shettima’s remark about Obi’s competence, calling it provocative and interpreted as bigoted.
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He also urged Nigerians to reject politicians that support prejudice and other ideologies that endanger the country’s peace and unity.
Gwadabe asserted that Shettima’s remarks disparaging Peter Obi and the Igbo presidency were his own and not the organization’s position.
The statement reads: “Considering the weight of the provocative,divisive and reckless statement made by our patron, Alhajji Kashim Shettima which is against the spirit of unity we stand for, and following consultations from members across the 19 states of Northern Nigeria, and approval from National Executive Committee in our emergency congress held, we, by this statement, announced the immediate removal of the APC Vice Presidential candidate as our patron.
“We are ashamed to associate ourselves with someone of Shettima’s standing who, despite piloting the affairs of his native Borno State as governor for two consecutive terms, still does not know that Nigeria is for everybody, irrespective of tribe, religion and cultural backgrounds.
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“The reckless and retrogressive statement he made against Peter Obi and Igbo presidency is his personal view and not that of our organisation which he was a patron at the time of the provocative statement.
“The era where Arewa youths just accept whatever choices, or decisions made by the APC, is gone for good, and that point must not be taken for granted.
“Henceforth, Northern youths, who are distinguished in every right, shall vote character and competence, while relegating tribe and religion to the background, as far as elections that will decide their future are concerned.
“We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, especially our youths and Northern elites, to, in the interest of our diversity and unity, condemn – in the strongest term – this unpatriotic statement capable of igniting ethnic tension in the already-charged polity.
“We hold that such crass propagation of bigotry must not be allowed in a decent society such as ours that is multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and secular in nature.
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“In demonstration of our zero-tolerance for rascality, and chauvinism under whatever guise, we have caused the removal of Senator Kashim Shettima, as our patron.
“We are mindful of the fact that, as youths from the Northern region, we are, no doubt, at the receiving end of the insecurity plaguing the nation, with attendant deaths, destruction, and hunger.
“As a matter of fact, there is hardly any part of the North that is peaceful today, as insurgency, banditry and kidnapping have become second nature.
“May we, therefore, use this opportunity to task our leaders to eschew bitterness in their pursuit of political power, knowing that as a fragile nation, all efforts must be geared towards the stability and peace of Nigeria.”
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