I Was Misquoted, I Meant Tinubu Will Be Ruthless Like Abacha, Not Friendly – Shettima

The vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kashim Shettima has denied saying Nigeria needs the party’s flagbearer, Bola Tinubu because he is friendly like the former military head of state, Sani Abacha.

Shettima Clarifies Tinubu-Abacha Comparison

KanyiDaily recalls that Shettima said Nigeria needs a leader like Tinubu, who has the “dose of hospitality” that Abacha had, and the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to get things done.

Reacting to the backlash trailing his comparison in a series of tweets on Friday, Shettima denied attributing hospitality to Abacha, adding that he meant Nigeria needs a president with “a dose of ruthlessness and taciturnity” of the late military ruler, to address insecurity.

“The obsession with distorting one’s views to settle partisan scores brings to mind a certain WBC Commentary. ‘The trouble with deliberate bias,’ it says, ‘is that it cannot be erased by sound education’. The video of my speech in Lagos is out there for those sincerely curious.

“I never attributed hospitality to Abacha in my speech. I did a rundown of our past Presidents and played up ‘the taciturnity and a dose of ruthlessness of a Sani Abacha’ to show we need strongmen to deal with the non state actors who’ve turned Nigeria into a vast killing-field.

“I was quick to tease the audience, appreciating the humour hovering around the hall, with the familiar jibe that nice men don’t make good leaders.

“By nice men I meant those who get easily manipulated and pressured to divert state resources to appeal to private expectations,” Shettima tweeted.

I never attributed hospitality to Abacha in my speech. I did a rundown of our past Presidents and played up “the taciturnity and a dose of ruthlessness of a Sani Abacha” to show we need strongmen to deal with the nonstate actors who’ve turned Nigeria into a vast killing-field. 2/

— Kashim Shettima (@KashimSM) September 16, 2022

KanyiDaily recalls that Shettima had urged Nigerians to follow the man who understands and can solve Nigeria’s problem, promising that Tinubu would hit the ground running if elected into office in 2023.