Shittu stated this while reacting to threats by Dogara and Lawal to mobilise Northern Christians to vote against the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu in 2023 over his choice to run on a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The Director-General of Asiwaju Tinubu-Shettima Coalition for Good Governance, Adebayo Shittu, has described the former Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, as politicians with little or no political value.
Shittu stated this while reacting to threats by Dogara and Lawal to mobilise Northern Christians to vote against the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu in 2023 over his choice to run on a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima are Muslims.
Dogara on Tuesday described the APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket as one that is “doomed to end in a spectacular failure,” while Lawal described it as a deliberate plan to further create divisions in the North.
Lawal also described the Muslim-Muslim ticket as demonic, adding that he and Dogara would against it and defeat it such that no right-thinking person would consider such in the future.
Reacting to Dogara and Lawal’s threats in an interview with The PUNCH, Shittu said that there is no cause for alarm as the people concerned have no electoral value.
Shittu was quoted as saying, “These people have little or no electoral value. If Dogara and Lawal are as potent as they are, will they be making noise about it?
“Intimidation cannot work here because this is a political land space. What were their votes in the last election? I don’t think the media should be giving them this relevance to be escalating what they are saying. Should anybody be threatening the APC or its candidate at this stage?”
Also reacting to Dogara and Lawal’s threat, the spokesperson for the APC Presidential Campaign Council and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, said the duo merely expressed their frustration, which according to him, is normal for concerned party members.
Keyamo said, “I think they have made their point and they have been heard loud and clear. After that, they must allow the majority members of the party to have their say and way. Let Nigerians as a whole also have their say at the 2023 general elections
“What is not acceptable is an attempt to force their personal opinion as the view of a non-existent bloc in the APC. There is nothing called ‘Northern Christians bloc’ within the party.
“They have not been nominated at any event by the party’s Constitution to be the leader of any bloc called Northern Christians bloc. They have not been elected or nominated. What they are conducting is just their own opinion or agenda. They should not pretend to be leading a non-existent bloc in the party.”
Similarly, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said he was not moved by such pressure.
“What is an anti-party activity in people expressing their opinions? This is democracy. Even party members are entitled to their opinions. I mean everything people say in the realm of their liberty does not have to amount to anti-party.
“The APC is more interested in reconciling people who are aggrieved and have more reasons to be dissatisfied with each other,” Morka said.