The All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has said those criticizing him for choosing Kashim Shettima as his running mate are doing so because they wanted that position but he denied them the opportunity.
Tinubu said some of those criticizing his choice of Shettima as running mate were his close friends whom he turned down.
He disclosed this during an interactive session with the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Abuja, led by Archbishop Daniel Ukoh.
Babachir Lawal, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and close ally of Tinubu, had condemned the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket. He described it as “a disastrous error.”
Also, an erstwhile Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, urged Christians to vote against the APC following Tinubu’s decision to settle for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
Speaking during the session, Tinubu said: “People have reacted harshly to my selection. They are my friends, they lobbied me and wanted to be my running mate but I bluntly rejected them.”