The All Progressives Congress vice-presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, has explained why he wrote sneakers to the Nigerian Bar Association Conference in Lagos State on Monday. Shettima, who represented APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, at the event, was dressed in a black suit and red tie, accompanied by a pair of gym shoes, which stirred reactions from social media users. The event was attended by the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party, Peter Obi, respectively. But justifying his style in a video clip shared on social media on Thursday, Shettima, who is a former Borno State governor, stated that he deliberated wore sneakers to the event. “I was in Lagos for the NBA conference. It was held in Eko Hotels, it was largely funded by the Lagos State Government, the APC government of Lagos State. Subsequently, they moved to Eko Atlantic city, a product of an idea conceived by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. “When I sent my recce team… One of the presidential candidates, his team held meetings for three consecutive nights to commit mischief. “When I was told it was a hostile crowd. I’m a banker, trained by one of the best bankers in the world. I’m a Jim Ovia boy. I deliberately wore sneakers to the NBA to mock (sic) at them.” Speaking at the NBA conference, Shettima had said when elected, he and the APC presidential candidate will replicate the achievements recorded by Tinubu in Lagos. He said, “Nigerians have the capability to see through the worn-out rhetoric and sophistry of pretentious politicians.” “Nigerians should follow the man wey know the road. From day one, we will hit the ground running. We’ll promptly address the issue of the economy, ecology, and security. “And we have the antecedents. I built some of the best schools in Nigeria. Go to Borno and see wonders; you will never believe that it is a state in a state of war. “So, we are going to replicate our achievements in Lagos, in Borno and some of the frontline states so that our nation will be a better place. The fundamental issue is pure leadership.”

  Media personality and ex-presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dele Momodu, has narrated how Senator Remi Tinubu sought his support to campaign for the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu. According to Momodu in an Instagram post on Friday, himself and Tinubu’s wife, a Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, met at an event in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital. Momodo said though he loves the APC presidential candidate, he won’t support Tinubu’s 2023 ambition because the “APC has done too much damage to Nigeria”. He wrote, “Only two people, apart from the photographers, witnessed what happened between me and SENATOR MRS OLUREMI TINUBU yesterday, at the funeral service of CHIEF MRS KEMI NELSON, at Archbishop Vining Memorial Church in Ikeja, Lagos. Before some people add salt and pepper to it, I need to state precisely what happened. “SENATOR TOKUNBO ABIRU and DR TUNJI OLOWOLAFE and I had walked in about the same time and we went to greet my very dear Sister, SENATOR MRS OLUREMI TINUBU… Immediately she saw me, we exchanged our usual pleasantries and then she asked me “so Bob Dee, you’re not going to campaign for my husband…” I smiled and remained very calm before replying: “Your Excellency, I’m in PDP…” She apparently didn’t find it funny and regaled us with the past I shared with her husband and I tried to calm her down… “Anyway, I went back to my seat and pondered on what just happened and I soliloquised: “Before the PDP Primary, I had been asked repeatedly by journalists if I’ll dump PDP if I don’t get the ticket, my answer was NO. So if I had gotten the PDP ticket, would I step down for TINUBU of APC, the answer is NO…” “I joined PDP because APC was leading Nigeria to Golgotha. APC candidates are promising to continue BUHARI’S “good works!” I joined PDP in order to sack APC from power and to do this I needed a strong opposition party. I had preached to my younger friends that only a mainstream party like PDP can achieve this in 2023. This remains my conviction. I practice what I preach. Those who disagree are in other parties and I respect their opinions and wish them well. I’m in PDP. “I love ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU. We’ve truly come way back. I love PROFESSOR YEMI OSINBAJO. I love RT. HON. CHIBUIKE ROTIMI AMAECHI… And all my APC friends… But APC has done too much damage to Nigeria. I choose to place Nigeria above friendship… I will try my best to support and encourage our PDP candidate ALHAJI ATIKU ABUBAKAR to do the right things in our party and to rescue our dear beloved country from the vestiges of oppression, religious intolerance, poverty, terrorism, infrastructure decay, economic wows, unemployment.”

  Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has said those mocking the vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Kashim Shettima’s outfit at the Nigeria Bar Association Annual General Conference (NBA-AGC) exposed themselves to childish and foolish activities. Shettima, at the NBA-AGC which held at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos on Monday appeared in an oversized suit and sneakers combination which later became #ShettimaChallenge on social media. Some sections of the public criticised the former Borno state governor for sitting without unbottoning his suit, which made his red tie flapping oddly underneath the suit. Reacting to the issue yesterday via his verified Twitter account, Fani-Kayode, in a series of tweets, also said those who mocked Shettima have only succeeded in elevating him. Fani-Kayode tweeted, “When grown men in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s take pictures in strange garb in an attempt to mock Senator Kashim Shettima, our incoming VP, they do nothing but expose themselves for the infantile, asinine and jobless clowns and godless and disrespectful Phillistines and infidels that they are. “Nothing reflects the obsessive and narcissistic disposition, sociopathic tendencies, intellectual degeneration and moral turpitude of some of those in our midst than this imbecilic idiocy and repugnant behaviour. “They behave more like bling-wearing ghetto gangbangers and hoodlum slum kings than supposedly enlightened, educated, exemplary and civilised adults. “They belong in a zoo or better still a jungle filled with wild animals. That is their natural habitat. jungle filled with wild animals. That is their natural habitat. Read also: Present APC is not same as one I criticised ― Fani Kayode “They are nothing but toxic and ravenous beasts and spiritual vampires who seek to feed off the misfortune of others and sap their energy and who live to attempt to ridicule, humiliate and falsely accuse good men in a futile attempt to pull them down. “They seek to mock Shettima but they have only succeeded in exalting him, lifting him up and mocking themselves.” The APC chieftain also berated Shettima’s critics for not appreciating his brilliant speech at the lawyers’ colloquium. “Whilst he is displaying his natural and sheer brilliance with his informed commentary and powerful speeches, which were so well displayed at the NBA conference where he stole the show, and whilst he is on the road towards becoming VP, the miscreants are taking selfies of themselves in strange garb in an attempt to undermine and belittle him. “Yet whether they continue to do so or not makes no difference to him or to those of us that stand with him and Bola Ahmed Tinubu in this great quest and mighty battle. “Whether they like it or not he is on the move and regardless of their antics he is marching on whilst they will, more likely than not, continue to take childish little selfies and post them on social media for the rest of their sorry lives in an attempt to find relevance and seek validation from a faceless mob and their equally lost and deluded cheerleaders, friends and colleagues. “That is all they have to offer or show for their miserable and frustrated lives and and sorry existence.” Rounding off the tweets, the former minister said, “I have one message for them: Grow up, act your age and not your shoe size and get a life! “We have far more important issues to discuss and focus on in this country and far bigger problems to solve than someone else’s attire and the type of shoes, ties and suits that he chooses to wear.”

  Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is backing Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), for the country’s highest office, TheCable understands. The former president is said to have asked Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, to throw his weight behind the presidential bid of Obi. Obasanjo is said to have made the request at a meeting he held with the Rivers governor in London on Thursday. “Obasanjo wants a southerner to be president but does not think Bola Tinubu is the best option,” a source privy to the meeting said. “The former president has also asked Wike and his supporters to back Obi.” In the last few days, Wike has been sought after by Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Obasanjo on behalf of Obi. On Tuesday, TheCable reported that Wike and Tinubu met in France to explore the possibility of the Rivers governor working for the ruling party at the polls in February 2023. Ibrahim Masari, who was a placeholder for the vice-presidential position of the APC, expressed optimism that the Rivers governor would work for the ruling party. “The meeting was basically on the 2023 presidential election and, by God’s grace, we are going to work with governor Nyesom Wike, he will assist and we are going to win the election with ease, by the will of God,” the politician had said. In a last-ditch effort, Abubakar embarked on a trip to London on Wednesday in an attempt to get Wike on his good side. A crisis has rocked the main opposition party since it held its presidential primary election in May. Atiku clinched the party’s ticket after the dramatic withdrawal of Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto, from the race. Tambuwal had asked his supporters to support the former vice-president. The crisis in the party escalated after Atiku chose Ifeanyi Okowa, governor of Delta, as his running mate. Party stakeholders expressed concerns that Abubakar ignored Wike.