Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State and All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship candidate in next month’s election, has made a strong appeal to his supporters and all the people of the state not to show “any form of disrespect “ to the person of President Goodluck Jonathan and his entourage.
Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are scheduled to hold the party’s Presidential and Governorship campaign in Maiduguri today, (Saturday), barely one week after the President had sneaked into the city, for an unscheduled visit.The governor made the call in a statement he personally signed in Maiduguri on Friday, a copy of which was made available to newsmen
Saturday Sun gathered that the governor’s call may have been informed by recent happenings in the north, where irate youths were reported to have attacked the President’s convoy, in Katsina and Bauchi States, all of which are incidentally controlled by the PDP.
Describing the act, as “disrespectful,” and show of “intolerance and extreme bad politics,” Shettima further said: “From what I have read or heard in the media, so far, there has not been any issue of such in any APC controlled States visited by the President and Borno should not be an exception.
“We have political differences and our differences are legitimate and based on the principles of our political parties and what we stand for. But we must remember that His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and as citizens of this country, we have an obligation to respect his office and his person. Our millions of citizens who support the APC in Borno State and our Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari and anyone that supports me or any of our National and State Assembly candidates in the State, should shun any act of violence, intolerance and unlawful political behavior before, during and after the President’s visit and should remain law abiding citizens of Borno State as our laws, norms and values demand.
“Disrespecting the President’s convoy will not help the APC and General Buhari in any way, rather, it will provide ample basis for his and our political opponents to blackmail him and the APC. Any true admirer of Buhari should translate his or her admiration to massive support for him when he visits Maiduguri to launch his Presidential campaign at a date that will soon be made public. Buhari is not coming on Saturday (tomorrow) as earlier planned due to some adjustments made to make his activities more successful. Supporters of Buhari and the APC should not be involved in violence but should rather ensure they all obtain and se¬cure their Permanent Voters Card to cast votes for him and all candidates of the APC during the forthcoming general elections.
“President Jonathan is expected in Maiduguri to flag off his Presidential campaign in Borno State, I call on all APC supporters and those of Buhari never to show any act of disrespect to the President and members of his entourage. Anyone who supports the PDP and the President’s re-election bid should freely support him in exercise of his or rights. Any¬one who doesn’t share the PDP’s ideology and that of the President has the option of minding his or her business without any compulsion and this is legitimate but there must be no acts of intolerance. It is the right of every Nigerian to associate with any of the registered political parties in this country. It is the right of every Nigerian to support any candidate of his or her convictions. Our rights as associates of any party end where the rights of our opponents begin and theirs end where ours begin.
“Let me use this opportunity to call on supporters of all political parties in Borno State to abide by the princi-ples of ‘politics without bitterness’ which we are being known for in Borno over the years.”
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