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In what could be described as a major setback for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential and vice-presidential candidates, youths of the APC from the North East geopolitical zone have threatened to withdraw their support for the party’s vice presidential candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima.
The youths under the auspices of North East APC Youths and Stakeholders Forum who were at the forefront of the agitation to zone the APC vice presidential slot to the North East region vowed to withdraw support for the former governor of Borno State, alleging that he has continually undermined their effort.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the acting chairman of the APC North East Youth and Stakeholders Forum, Shaibu Tilde, said Shetima snubbed them immediately after he was named running mate to Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
This, Tilde said, has led to the loss of some foundational members of the structure, including the zonal women leader, Amina Manga of Bauchi, who defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with over one million women, as well as another loyalist of Shettima and treasurer of the group, Yusuf Banki, who also dumped APC for the PDP with over 500,000 youths.
The forum stated: “We are saddened to be in the news for what others will interpret as a negative reason at this time, but we are also obligated by our love for our great party, the All Progressives Congress, to make this timely intervention before our party’s fortunes in the region sink.
“We do not need to emphasise that this is an injury time for the game because the general elections are less than two months away, leaving no room for error, but instead attention must be focused on tightening all loose ends, which is not the case with our party in the northeast.”
