Malam Isa Gusau, Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy to Kashim Shettima of Borno State has said that “forces” attempting to set his principal and President Muhammadu Buhari on warpath were wasting their time.
Gusau spoke in a statement to DAILY POST on Sunday in response to circulating messages that Governor Shettima was on collision with President Muhammadu Buhari because he named an estate after APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu, two weeks ago.
Gusau stated that intelligence report uncovered that a newspaper publisher was behind the messages which described Shettima’s action as “shift of loyalty.”
He said: “First of all, we know why Tukur Mamu is doing all these mischief and at the appropriate time Nigerians will hear. But before then, Tukur Mamu needs to know that Governor Kashim Shettima has developed very thick skin because of the kind of challenges he has faced and came out stronger.
“During his first term as Governor of Borno State, there were moments he was contending with Boko Haram and at the same time dealing with very serious political affront coming from a sitting President and also from his former boss, a former Governor of Borno State yet he survived all of these and he came out stronger.
“There was a time the military withdrew soldiers protection from Governor Shettima while soldiers were deployed to protect his former boss, Ali Modu Sheriff as well as his opponent in PDP ahead of the 2015 Governorship but the Governor went about his campaigns without military escort and succeeded.
“There was a time the Maiduguri airport was shutdown, the Governor and pilgrims were prevented from using the airport while a private citizen in PDP was allowed to use the airport. The fact is that, there are some politicians who for whatever reason, seem bent on setting the Presidency against the Governor.
“In June, 2015, after Governor Shettima accompanied President Buhari to the United States, some mischief makers came up with falsehoods that the Governor was arrested. As it turned out, the Governor was invited on two occasions by agencies of the U.S Government to make presentations before senior officials.
“In May, 2016, posters where mischievously pasted all over Abuja and Kaduna saying Governor Shettima was aspiring to be President with Governor Rochas Okorocha as his running mate in 2019. He promptly wrote the Inspector General of Police and the Director-General of DSS calling for investigations on those behind the posters and at the end, some persons connected with the posters were arrested.
“In March, 2017, two weeks after he hosted Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to commission projects and named an estate after him, a group came out saying the motive was to spite ex-Governor Ali Modu Sheriff.
“For God sake, what is wrong with hosting Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, when like the Governor said, no single individual helped him politically as much as Tinubu did before the 2015 elections? Is Tinubu not a founding leader of the APC? If Tinubu is considered an enemy of President Buhari, how come he was hosted by the President in London, at a time the President was managing his health?
“By his nature, Governor Shettima is extremely humble but at the same time, he is very tough. He acts by his conviction and he has never been a schemer because like he always says, God is the greatest of all planners. He believes firmly that only God and not man can decide his fate in all things. The Governor has a pure heart and this is why Allah has consistently been his strength,” Gusau said.
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