June 17, (THEWILL) – The National Vice Chairman (Northeast) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mustapha Salihu, has said he chose to endorse President Bola Tinubu and not Vice President Kashim Shettima because there is no provision in the constitution that allows for the endorsement of a joint ticket at party primaries.
Speaking on Monday when he featured on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, Salihu said the endorsement process involves only presidential aspirants, not their running mates.
He clarified that Shettima was omitted from his endorsement during Sunday’s APC North-East summit in Gombe because it was in line with party convention and constitutional provisions.
He said, “In my full speech—the last paragraph before the endorsement—I eulogised Kashim Shettima, recognising him as our son and expressing that we stand by him as people of the North-East. I also appreciated the national security adviser as our son, whom we are proud of, and acknowledged all the ministers and parastatals given to Northeast indigenes, thanking Asiwaju [Tinubu] for that, before calling for his endorsement of him as the sole presidential candidate.
“In party politics, we have only one ticket at the primary stage—for the executive chairman, local government chairman, governors, and president. There is no provision in our constitution that allows for the endorsement of a joint ticket at that level. It is only after the primaries, when a candidate emerges, that he chooses a running mate.
“That choice remains the constitutional prerogative of the presidential candidate, even though consultations may occur.”
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