Kashim Shettima, Bola Tinubu’s running mate in the February 25 presidential election, has come to the latter’s defence, insisting that he is the best candidate to become the next president.

“We are not asking Nigerians to turn down critical assessment of their leaders. But we want them to look at the larger picture,” Mr Shettima said. “We are not preparing for (the) Olympics. But for an institution that thrives on the superiority of ideas and established track record.”

He added, “I will urge you all to vote for the one that would sustain the legacies of President Muhammadu Buhari; for someone who has the integrity, the character, and the skillsets to catapult this nation to a higher pedestal.” 

The former Borno governor said this on Monday at a banquet for President Muhammadu Buhari, who visited Lagos to inaugurate the Lagos deep sea port. 

Mr Shettima’s statement came after Naja’atu Muhammad, an APC chieftain and member of the party’s presidential campaign council, dumped Mr Tinubu on claims that he is unfit to run for president.

“I sat with him for two hours in London; when you talk of green, he will give you an answer of red. He can’t even decipher. He has very serious dementia; I believe he has Alzheimer’s because he cannot even hold a cup of tea,” Ms Muhammad told DCL Hausa a day after she dumped the APC.

In several of his public engagements, Mr Tinubu has made incoherent statements, making his critics raise the alarm over his frail health.

However, Mr Tinubu dismissed criticisms about his frail health, saying being Nigerian president is not grave digging that requires his physical strength.