The All Progressives Congress (APC) Vice Presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, said he will focus on fighting insecurity in the country if the ruling party is elected in next year’s presidential election.
Shettima, who was a panellist at the just concluded Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Monday in Lagos, said he would personally lead the Nigerian military against criminals while his principal, Bola Tinubu, will oversee the economy.
“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,” he said.
Shettima’s comment which has been interpreted to mean he will act as the commander-in-chief if elected vice president, a role which is the constitutional preserve of the President or the acting president, has left Nigerians on social media wondering if he will usurp the role of his principal, Tinubu.
According to Section 130(2) of the 1999 Constitution, the Nigerian president has the exclusive authority as the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces and not his deputy.
Speaking on his comments, the spokesperson of the presidential campaign of the main opposition the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Daniel Bwala, Thursday, described Mr Shettima’s comment as “a perfect picture of delusion of grandeur.”
He ruled out the possibility of a civilian ever leading Nigerian troops and mocked the APC VP candidate’s stance.
“That is a perfect picture of delusion of grandeur. Why would a civilian say he will lead the troops? If he is as passionate as he claimed, why didn’t he lead his troops as a governor when the Chibok girls were kidnapped?
“As a sitting Governor, he ignored all security reports and the counsel of against holding the 2014 May/June West African Examination Council (WAEC) at Chibok,” Mr Bwala said.
He accused the ruling party of deception, adding that Mr Shettima’s statement is a point to the kind of government the party intends to run if elected in 2023.
“Without crediting the statement to his principal, his statement means he is the de-facto president while Tinubu is just a placeholder.
“He gives an impression of insubordination and the kind of deceptive government APC intends to run if elected in 2023,” he said in an interview with Premium Times.
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