Vice presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Kashim Shettima, has faulted the opinion poll released by a national newspaper, which ranked Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of APC’s Bola Tinubu.
Speaking to journalists in Kano, yesterday, Shettima rebuked what he considered as “deliberate bias” by the organisation to discredit Tinubu, insisting that APC is fully grounded with the reality of Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election.
The former governor of Borno State said: “We know the ground reality and by God’s grace we are going to win next year’s election. We are completely indifferent to the antics of some political charlatans, who know next to nothing about political geography of Nigeria.”
In the result of the poll, made public yesterday, Atiku was projected to secure 25 per cent total votes in 23 states, while Tinubu, who was placed next, is projected to get 25 per cent votes in 20 states across the country. The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) counterpart, Rabiu Kwankwaso, were ranked third and fourth respectively in the projection.
Shettima, who was visibly disenchanted with the calculation, disclosed: “It is incontestable that Tinubu is the front-runner in this contest. For some of the contestants, their political arithmetic cannot add up. And for Thisday and other organisations’ projections, they are simply entitled to their own opinions.
“Elections are not conducted on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram platforms, but in the nooks and crannies as well as urban centres of the country. So, we are not bothered because we have faith with destiny and we are sure we are going to win the election by the grace of God.”
He had earlier visited the multi-billion naira Kano State Cancer Treatment Centre, where he applauded the ingenuity of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje for the project he believed would reduce billion of naira being spent on cancer treatment abroad.
“This is a game-changer. Nigeria is the third largest medical tourist country in the world. With this edifice, multifunctional and one stock centre for the treatment of cancer, I believe Ganduje has rendered the greatest service to the people of Kano and Nigeria. Kano will soon be a tourist attraction for cancer treatment,” he said.
