Vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kashim Shettima, has alleged that Northerners were reluctant to support him because of his Kanuri ethnic heritage. 

“People are saying that I’m not Hausa. We have had people from the north who are not Hausa and they benefitted the north. Umar Musa Yar’adua, Buhari and others are examples.

“I’m not Hausa, but I am Fulani-blood related. I’m a Kanuri also, and I have benefit the north than the other,” the APC vice presidential candidate added. 

During a visit to the Emir of Daura in Katsina, the running mate to Bola Tinubu said that northerners in states with predominant Hausa and Fulani people were refusing to back him. 

Speaking in Hausa and in reference to Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Shettima said, “Ours is ours, but our man who does not benefit us cannot be considered as our own.”

He, therefore, challenged the audience to show him what Mr Abubakar did for the region during his eight years as vice president that warrants their vote. 

Mr Shettima furthered challenged the audience to mention eight successful people that Mr Abubakar had mentored through his political career.