By Umar Audu
As the race to clinch the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, intensifies, a former governor of Borno State and Director General of Tinubu Campaign organization, Kashim Shettima, has dismissed Senate President Ahmad Lawan as an unpopular brand, especially in the southern part of the country.
The APC presidential primary is scheduled to begin on January 6.
Appearing on a Channels TV programme, Politics Today, on Friday, Mr Shettima said the facts are clear that Mr Lawan lacks capacity to confront the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
“Let’s not delude ourselves. He became a senator with 144,000 votes. I became a senator with two and half times the votes he garned in Yobe.
“Go to Ohafia or Arochukwu and ask for Ahmed Lawan, the first thing that will come to their mind is that of a tomato dealer who is bringing tomatoes from Maiduguri.
“Go to any part of the south. Does the brand name sell?” he queried.
He noted that only Mr Tinubu possesses the intellect and capacity to tackle the complexity and dynamics of Nigerian political system, and also win the elections for the party in 2023.
Mr Shettima, a who is the Senator representing Borno Central, had earlier warned his party against the consequences of denying Mr Tinubu the presidential ticket, saying it would be “catastrophic”.
