Okowa Knocks Shettima Over Statement On Security

The vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ifeanyi Okowa, has slammed his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Kashim Shettima, over a statement about taking charge of security if the APC gets elected into power.

This comes after Shettima, during the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference which held last week in Lagos, made comments about overseeing the nation’s security if elected.

He had said, “I have been in the theatre of conflicts for 18 years. I will lead the troops, my principal is an economy wizard who has transformed Lagos into the third largest economy in Africa. He will concentrate on the economy.

“By God’s grace, I will handle the security, and not only handle the security, I will lead the troops to battle across the length and breadth of this country “

Reacting to the statement on Wednesday, Okowa slammed Shettima for allegedly trying to delegitimize the role of the president and relegating the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu, who the constitution has made the Commander-In-Chief if elected president.

Okowa said, “I don’t want to talk about their policies. If the vice-president will take charge of security, is he (the president) not going to preside over the security council at the federal level?

“I don’t understand that. Because there is a commander-in-chief. Is there a reversal in position?”

“He can offer advice. But I’ll find it absurd that he speaks about: ‘I’ll take charge of it’. Possibly they have agreed that he’s to be the commander-in-chief.”