Tinubu: APC North-East Youths Insist On Dumping Shettima, Knock Keyamo

The North-East Youths and Stakeholders Forum of the All Progressive Congress has reiterated the decision to dump the party’s Vice Presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, as they knock the spokesman of the APC campaign council, Festus Keyamo, for alleging that its decision was a subtle blackmail.

Naija News earlier reported that the youth group accused the running mate to the party’s presidential flagbearer, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of negligence in some activities in his region.

According to them, Shettima has continually undermined their efforts after giving him the support he needed in clinching the VP slot, among other things.

In a swift reaction, the spokesman for Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, said that such misunderstanding is bound to happen in the build-up to a 2023 election.

Keyamo admitted that though some party members have left to join the opposition, he contested the alleged number of members claimed by the youth group, noting that their grievances would be addressed.

The APC chieftain, however, cautioned that it would also be wrong for the support group to attempt to resort to subtle blackmail to have their way.

North-East Youths Speaks

In a statement on Saturday, signed and issued in Abuja by its Acting Chairman, Shaibu Tilde, the youth group said the decision to withdraw support for Kashima still stands.

They argued that the Minister of State for Labour, Festus Keyamo, lack an understanding of the calibre of people in the North-East the reason he called them cheap blackmailers.

The group further urged Keyamo to compare the total figure of voters in the region released by the Independent National Electoral Commission to determine the veracity of their claim.

The statement read: “In the last 48 hours the media has been awash with the news report of our position on the Vice presidential candidate of our great party. We wish to reaffirm our resolve on the issue and state unequivocally loud that our position to withdraw our support for the vice presidential candidate of our dear party, Sen Kashim Shettima still stands.

“What has however become a source of worry for our group is the unsavoury and scathing attack launched at us by the APC presidential spokesman Barr. Festus Keyamo.

“While we intend not to join issues with Mr Keyamo, we are however obligated to set the records straight so as to mitigate the poignant narrative Mr Keyamo is constructing around our noble group and clear intentions and love for our great party.

“We shall continue with that mantra of speaking out to power for the love of our dear party, the All Progressives Congress not minding whose ox is gored.

“Firstly, it’s clearly manifest that Mr Keyamo does not understand the calibre of youth and the extent of their fibres in the Northeast region of the party and therefore can resort to calling us names as ‘cheap blackmailers’. This is rather unfortunate that the spokesman of our party has tuned his war arsenal against his fellow party men with a common goal to win the 2023 election.

“Secondly, we wish to remind Mr Keyamo that we are not seeking empty attention nor do we want to be pampered. It is important to school Mr Keyamo that this group did not emerge from the blues. We have been on this journey from time to set. For the records, this group has spent millions of naira mobilising support for both Sen. Kashim Shettima and by extension the APC.

“Thirdly, Mr Keyamo has blatantly discredited our defection statistics asserting that the entire Northeast region will have nobody to vote for the APC if 8 million voters defect from the party. In his views, the total number of registered voters in the North-East put together will not be up to 8 million but the recent figure of registered voters released by the Independent National Electoral Commission shows that out of the 93.5 million people registered, the North-East region has a total of 12.5 million voters. The figure has therefore vindicated us and expose the ignorance of Mr Keyamo and his skewed narrative on our ground.