The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Murtala Ajaka has called on Nigerians to ignore opposition parties’ sentiment of religion.

He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and Nigerians have been reacting.

According to him, the choice of Senator Kashim Shettima as vice presidential candidate has unsettled the camps of the opposition because they know he is a man of knowledge and courage.

Murtala Ajaka added that the sterling qualities of APC’s vice presidential candidate has once clearly thrown the opposition parties off-balance, but APC won’t care.

His words, “The sterling qualities of our vice presidential candidate, in person of Senator Kashim Shettima, has once again thrown the opposition parties off-balance. They (PDP and others) would have preferred our presidential candidate to settle for the less so as to make it easy for them to win election (God forbid), but the choice of the trusted and trustworthy Shettima must have disorganised their evil plans, we understand them in the APC.”

“While we sympathise with the opposition parties, we appeal to Nigerians, who will eventually be the beneficiaries of good governance under Tinubu-Shettima presidency, to see beyond the sentiments of religion and tribe. Both Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima are not religious fundamentalists or ultra Muslims, their records in public offices are testimonies to rely on.”

“As a two-term governor in Borno State, Shettima enjoyed the support of the Christian community throughout his tenure. In fact, the Borno chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) testified that ‘In the history of Borno State, there is no Governor that has been fair to the Christian Community as much as Governor Kashim Shettima.”

“For example, it was Governor Shettima, in the history of Borno, that has sponsored the highest number of Christian Pilgrims every year since 2011 till he left office. This and many other records of mutual respect for all faiths are there to verify in Borno State.”

“If Borno State has the largest votes in the North-East where Kashim Shettima has been governor for 8 years and now a Senator and still politically relevant, if the APC has enjoyed massive support from this state and the entire North-East and the emergence of Shettima as our vice presidential candidate will deny the candidate of the PDP the smooth ride in the zone, I think the APC and our presidential candidate are politically correct because our main goal for now is to emerge victorious in the coming elections, not forgetting competence which Senator Kashim Shettima represents.”

“The choice of Shettima is not an issue to any serious minded politician in this country. These people are just looking for what to hang on to for survival. The APC knows that their situation is getting worse. The choice of Shettima has made the job easier for the rest of us, especially for my party, because of his antecedent. His antecedent calls for concerns.”

“Remember that the Governor who handed over to him accused him in 2017 of being the main sponsor of Boko Haram. It was all over the media. His choice as running mate is the final nail on the coffin of the APC. We don’t see him as a threat or anything to worry about.”