Ismail Abdulazeez Mantu Reporting
Vice President Kashim Shettima yesterday after the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal judgement said he will retire the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections Atiku Abubakar to his hometown and buy livestock for him to rear.
Shettima said this during a chat with reporters moments after the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal affirmed the victory of President Bola Tinubu at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday.
After expressing his satisfaction with the Tribunal’s judgement and making a call for his foes to partner with him, one of the reporters asked him if he was still going to retire Atiku – one of his comments during the campaigns.
The former governor of Borno State said, “We have moved beyond the phase of politics. Now, we are in the phase of governance. Atiku Abubakar is an elder statesman whom I hold in very high esteem.
“Anybody who knows the socio-cultural interaction between the Fulanis and Kanuris in the north would know that I have the liberty to hurl all insults at him and he’d stoically bear
“We are not going to retire Atiku to Dubai or Morocco. I’d retire him to Kombina. I’d buy him goats, broilers and layers so that he can spend his days rearing cows and broilers.
“On a more serious note, Atiku is an elder statesman. The nation needs him.
“Experience is not something that you can buy in the market. We’d tap into his wealth of experience and exposure to catapult the nation to a higher pedestal. Politics is over, governance is now important.”