Bishop Naga Mohammed, the Borno State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has denied supporting the choice of former Governor Kashim Shettima as the running mate to the Presidential flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.

Mohammed said he neither granted any interview to any journalist nor issued any press statement to that effect, he added that the purported endorsement report was taken from his comments in 2017 when Boko Haram was devastating the state at a time when Mr Shettima was the governor.

He said: “I have not granted an interview to anybody and never issued any statement. Was it not yesterday (Sunday) they said they had appointed him (Shettima)? How come I granted interview at the APC secretariat?

“Nobody called me. No journalist called me, except when this thing happened, when the papers were carrying it viral, then people were calling me.

“Right now, I’m somehow angry and not even composed to talk very well. The story they are carrying was in 2017 when Boko Haram was devastating Borno when Kashim Shettima was the governor.

“They picked that story and I, being CAN chairman, they now levelled it against me. I am just framed up and I don’t even have trust speaking with journalists, including you, because I don’t know what else you will write.”

President Muhammadu Buhari says being in charge of the country’s affairs has been tough and that he is eager to leave office.

Buhari said this on Monday when he hosted some governors, legislators and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains at his Daura home in Katsina state.

The president spent his Eid-el-Kabir holiday in Katsina.

The commander-in-chief said he would do his best before handing over power to the winner of the 2023 presidential election.

“By this time next year, I will have made the most out of the two terms, and in the remaining months I will do my best,” the president said.

“I wish the person who is coming after me the very best. I am eager to go. I can tell you it has been tough.

“I am grateful to God that people appreciate the personal sacrifices we have been making.

“We are a lucky people and we need to reflect more on where we are coming from.”

Buhari said the insecurity in the north-west has become a serious challenge, but that some successes have been recorded in the south-south and north-east.

The Yobe State Governor, Mai Buni, has congratulated the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for the choice of Senator Kashim Shettima, whom he described as a worthy candidate.

The governor, who was the former Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, described the Tinubu-Shettima ticket as a victory ticket for the party.

Buni said the choice of Shettima, would enrich the fortunes of the party with bright chances of victory in the 2023 general election.

He said, “The combination of Tinubu and Shettima makes the party stronger to approach the presidential election next year with a clear victory.”

Governor Buni said the APC presidential and vice-presidential candidates were people with bountiful wealth of experience in governance to make Nigeria great.

“Their administrative competence, skills and success stories have adequately prepared them for the leadership of the country.

“Nigeria has a lot to gain from the Tinubu-Shettima administration when elected into office,” he said.

The governor advised that at this critical moment of a dwindling world economy, Nigeria needs the excellent combination and experience of Tinubu and Shettima.

He charged the party to remain united and focused for a successful outing in 2023.

The Yobe State Governor noted that Tinubu and Shettima had great respect for all religions, making the Muslim-Muslim ticket more acceptable because, they were both religious tolerant, working and living with people from different faiths.

Governor Buni said, “With a population of over 40 million members, the APC will by the grace of God, win the 2023 elections fairly and squarely.”

Bishop Mohammed Naga, Chairman of Borno State Christians Association of Nigeria has applauded the selection of the former governor of the state, Senator Kashim Shettima, as the vice-presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Despite opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket from some quarters, the APC standard-bearer, Bola Tinubu, announced Shettima as his running mate.

But in what seems like great support for Shettima’s candidacy from a group outside his religion, the Borno chapter of CAN led by its chairman welcomed the choice of the former governor as Tinubu’s running mate.

Bishop Naga, said the Christian community in Borno State has never had a better deal than under Shettima who governed the state between 2011 and 2019.

Naga, who described Shettima as a compassionate leader, said: “My brothers, those who are not from Borno State may not know, but you and I know better. In the history of Borno State, there is no Governor that has been fair to the Christian Community in this state as much as Governor Kashim Shettima. I am saying this in the presence of God Almighty and this is nothing but the truth. Governor Shettima, in the history of Borno, is the only Governor that has sponsored the highest number of Christian Pilgrims every year since 2011.

“I am speaking boldly without fear or favour because as CAN Chairman I do not receive salary or kobo from the Government or any institution, but the facts need to be told. This Governor has shown compassion to the Christian Community.

“For example, when Gwoza people were driven from their ancestral homes, they fled to Maiduguri, and the Governor personally came to CAN Centre in Jerusalem ward two times in June and July 2014. He gave N10 million for their upkeep at first instance, but the victims were not many. By the end of October 2014, the IDPs from Gwoza increased to 42,000 in that camp alone. Governor Shettima came again and gave another N10 million. He also gave an additional N5 million to Christians from Borno who fled to Cameroon to be returned home.

“He gave another N5 million to non-indigenes who fled to Cameroon to come back to Nigeria.

“The Governor even directed the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA to be supplying food directly to the IDPs under the Christian leadership. In fact, the Governor insisted that he wanted Christian IDPs to stay together with their Muslim counterparts in various designated IDP camps here in Maiduguri but we the leaders felt it wise to separate Christian IDPs to avoid friction between displaced persons dealing with trauma.

“Sincerely speaking as a Christian and a preacher, absolutely I have nothing to fear about Asiwaju’s picking a Muslim as his running mate because he’s not a religious bigot and I’m happy he has made his mind known to the public in the person of his preferred running mate.

“Seeing another Presidential candidate applauding him is a plus for him and supporters of Asiwaju.

Congratulations to the awaiting president and vice president.”