Olusola Abiola, director of information in the office of the vice president, says mischief-makers are twisting his principal’s plea for a Christian to be the president of the senate.
Shettima has been canvassing support for the candidates nominated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 10th national assembly leadership positions.
On Sunday, Shettima announced that Muktar Betara and Yusuf Gadji, lawmakers aspiring for the position of speaker of the house of representatives, had agreed to drop their bids for Tajudeen Abbas, who the party chose.
For the senate, Godswill Akpabio, whom the APC nominated to be the number three citizen is facing stiff opposition from other aspirants.
On Sunday night, Shettima was quoted to have said the most incompetent southern Christian is better than the most puritanical northern Muslim for the senate presidency.
However, in a statement on Monday, Abiola said it would be illogical for Shettima who is a Muslim to second-guess the competence of a fellow Muslim.
“What Vice President Shettima advocated during the meeting was that considering Nigeria’s president and vice president are Muslims, it would not be ill-advised for the lawmakers to choose a non-Muslim contestant, even if against a more qualified Muslim option, in order to achieve balance,” he said.
“Vice President Shettima’s position reflects the stance of the APC, which has not only assigned the leadership of the house of representatives to the north-west but has also designated the position of the deputy senate president to be held by the same region.“At the time of the vice president-elect’s remarks, approximately three contenders for the speakership race had withdrawn their candidacy to support the candidate from the north-west.
“This well-considered balancing strategy aimed to mitigate the potential for crisis within the country, particularly by those anticipating the domination of leadership from the same religious faith in all branches of government as a signal.”