Kashim Shettima, vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says he was misconstrued on a recent comment he made which cited a reference to the late Sani Abacha.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Thursday at the 96th anniversary celebration of the Yoruba Tennis Club in Ikoyi, Lagos state, NAN had quoted him as saying Nigeria needs the \u201chospitality\u201d of Abacha, former military ruler.<\/a> The APC vice-presidential candidate had also listed some qualities of leaders such as Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdusalami Abubakar, Ibrahim Babangida, and President Muhammadu Buhari, and said Bola Tinubu, APC presidential candidate, has such qualities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need a leader that has established such records of excellence and commitment to good governance. There is no one, with all due respect, that fits this better than Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.\u201d<\/p>\n Clarifying the comparison of Abacha to Tinubu in a series of tweets on Friday, the former governor of Borno said he did not attribute hospitality to Abacha, adding that he meant Nigeria needs a president who is ruthless like the late military ruler, to address insecurity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe obsession with distorting one\u2019s views to settle partisan scores brings to mind a certain WBC Commentary. \u2018The trouble with deliberate bias,\u2019 it says, \u2018is that it cannot be erased by sound education\u2019. The video of my speech in Lagos is out there for those sincerely curious,\u201d he tweeted.<\/p>\n \u201cI never attributed hospitality to Abacha in my speech. I did a rundown of our past Presidents and played up \u2018the taciturnity and a dose of ruthlessness of a Sani Abacha\u2019 to show we need strongmen to deal with the non state actors who\u2019ve turned Nigeria into a vast killing-field.<\/p>\n \u201cI was quick to tease the audience, appreciating the humour hovering around the hall, with the familiar jibe that nice men don\u2019t make good leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cBy nice men I meant those who get easily manipulated and pressured to divert state resources to appeal to private expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n I never attributed hospitality to Abacha in my speech. I did a rundown of our past Presidents and played up \u201cthe taciturnity and a dose of ruthlessness of a Sani Abacha\u201d to show we need strongmen to deal with the nonstate actors who\u2019ve turned Nigeria into a vast killing-field. 2\/<\/p>\n — Kashim Shettima (@KashimSM) September 16, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nHowever, Shettima had said the country needs a president with \u201ca dose of ruthlessness and taciturnity\u201d of Abacha.<\/p>\n\n