Why I Didn't Attend APC Convention–Gov Shettima

On Friday, the All Progressives Congress, APC, held its National Convention at the Eagle Square, Abuja, and it was attended by top figures in the party, including Muhammadu Buhari, Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu.

Governors of the APC controlled states, members of the National Assembly, lawmakers from various state Houses of Assembly and other notable players in the country’s main opposition party were also at the Convention.

However, the Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, was not present, which raised eyebrows in some quarters.

In a press statement issued in Maiduguri on Saturday by Shettima’s Special Adviser on Communication, Isa Gusau, the governor stayed away from the event as a mark of respect for the secondary school girls kidnapped in Chibok by some terrorists almost two months ago.

According to the statement, the governor delegated his deputy, Zannah Mustapha, to represent him at the Convention. Shettima noted that if he had attended the event, he would have offended the sensibilities of victims of the serial attacks in Borno State.

“Shettima stayed away from the Eagle Square, venue of APC national convention, as a mark of respect for the victims of a series of Boko Haram attacks in Borno that include families of those killed across the state. The action was also to honour parents who have remained in despair following the abduction of about 200 school girls at Government Secondary School, Chibok.

“The governor believes that the convention was a legitimate democratic process that must not be stopped in order to defy insurgents. Their (insurgents) desire is to suspend and replace liberal and constitutional democracy with violent doctrines that have no religious backing,” Gusau said in the statement.