Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, on Monday threw his weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to re-contest presidential election in 2019.
Buhari at the National Executive Committee meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja on Monday had declared his intention to run for the election.
According to Shettima, the President has the right of first refusal of the candidature of the party.
Briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Shettima said “We are fully in support of his decision and it’s part of democratic culture, traditionally the president has the right of first refusal of the candidature of their party, so it’s not something that is unusual or unwarranted or unconstitutional he has done the right thing, he is going to contest and we are solidly behind him.
On whether the President consulted with the governors, he said “He is not under any obligation to consult governors or anybody; he has been under tremendous pressure to make that pronouncement so we should heave a sigh of relief since he has finally announced his intention to contest.
Asked how supportive the governors will be to him, he said “We will give him the kind of support we gave him in 2015.
Asked whether the declaration will not be distracting government, the governor said “Certainly it is not distracting government, it will even calm down governance so that people will concentrate on the real act of governance and deliver the dividends of democracy.
On the chances of President Buhari winning the election, he said “Certainly, he is the single kinetic president in Nigeria’s political life till date.”
