Former Borno Governor Kasim Shettima says he is unfazed in his support for former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu to become Nigeria’s president in 2023 despite criticisms because he believes “there’s honour among thieves.”

Mr Shettima said he would rather come out bold with his choice than sit on the fence because: “As Frantz Fanon said, ‘every onlooker is either a coward or traitor.’ I will rather come out bluntly and take a firm position on what is right, taking into consideration, our history of leadership in northern Nigeria, than sit on the fence and wait for the direction the wind will blow.”

“This is fundamentally the reason I came out to endorse Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Mr Shettima declared in an interview with Daily Trust on Sunday.

He further explained that his support for Mr Tinubu is to reciprocate Mr Tinubu’s support for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, when Mr Tinubu could easily throw his hat into the ring.

“When he (Mr Tinubu) supported us he could have stood for the presidency, but he didn’t. He supported President Buhari through thick and thin, and one good turn always deserves another. There is a minimum threshold below which we should not operate as politicians; it should not be a case of anything goes. That minimal threshold requires that we should reciprocate in kind,” Mr Shettima said.

Earlier in January, Mr Tinubu, declared interest in contesting for president in 2023. Like Mr Buhari, Mr Tinubu’s frail health remains a sticking point against his touted ambition to direct the affairs of Africa’s most populous nation. 

The politician only recently returned from the UK after months of undergoing major surgery and post-surgery therapy.

A video revealing Mr Tinubu’s soaked cloth from behind, suggesting he is suffering from urinary incontinence, published by Peoples Gazette on Sunday morning, has further elicited queries from Nigerians on whether he is fit to run the affairs of the country. 

The former Lagos governor will also likely be bogged down by corruption allegations, accused of tilling his hands into the commonwealth of Lagos, which he ruled for eight years. 

The Gazette had also published series of damning reports on Mr Tinubu’s corrupt enrichment via questionable Lagos tax administration through Alpha Beta. The newspaper also uncovered how Mr Tinubu’s Alpha Beta siphoned billions to shell companies.