Maryam Shetty, who was withdrawn as a ministerial nominee by President Bola Tinubu on Friday afternoon, was a staunch supporter of Yemi Osinbajo, former vice-president.
On Wednesday, Shetty’s name appeared among the 19 ministerial nominees forwarded to the senate, after the screening of the first batch of 28 had commenced.
Her nomination elicited mixed reactions on social media. While some questioned her experience, others called her a “TikTok influencer”.
Two days after her nomination, she was replaced by Mariya Mahmoud, former commissioner for higher education in Kano in the administration of Abdullahi Ganduje.
Ganduje was recently elected national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
SHETTY SUPPORTED OSINBAJO IN HIS BID FOR PRESIDENTIAL TICKET
Shetty with some Osinbajo supportersSocial media trail has shown that Shetty threw her support behind Osinbajo in his bid for the APC presidential ticket. She was literally embedded in his campaign for the presidency.
Shetty shared, retweeted and posted videos and images from the Osinbajo presidential campaign organisation.
In April of 2022, Shetty tweeted: “I have had the tremendous pleasure of accompanying His Excellency Prof Osinbajo to Edo and Delta states respectively, to talk to the delegates. The Oba of Benin accolades were simply epic and an unblemished truth”.
I have had the tremendous pleasure of accompanying HE @ProfOsinbajo to Edo and Delta States respectively, to talk to the delegates. The Oba of Benin accolades were simply epic and an unblemished truth!#PYO#webelieve! pic.twitter.com/MS3B9gjWoN
— @MaryamShetty (@maryamshetty) April 29, 2022
She also shared the video of the former vice-president declaring his intention to run for president on April 11, 2022.
Tinubu eventually nicked the APC presidential ticket on June 8, 2022 ahead of Rotimi Amaechi, Osinbajo and other contestants.
TAKEN UNAWARES
Shetty was clearly taken unawares by the withdrawal of her name during senate plenary.
The politician and her supporters were told at the gate of the senate that her name had been replaced with that of Mahmoud, sources told TheCable.
REACTIONS OVER SHETTY’S WITHDRAWAL
Shetty topped the Twitter trends list in the hours following the withdrawal of her nomination.
See some tweets below.