Friday June 13, 2025|
Vice President Kashim Shettima on Thursday declared that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has fulfilled the vision of late Chief M.K.O. Abiola by keeping alive the democratic flame and working to build a Nigeria that serves all its citizens.
Speaking on behalf of Tinubu at the public lecture commemorating Nigeria’s 26th Democracy Day at the State House, Shettima described the President as “one of Abiola’s most trusted lieutenants,” who now carries the baton in the continuing struggle for the soul of Nigeria’s democracy.
In a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima said: “in the great theatre of providence, history has returned the baton to one of Abiola’s most trusted lieutenants in the struggle for the soul of democracy in Nigeria: His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu”.
He recalled the sacrifice of Chief Abiola, winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, describing him as a patriot “who surrendered all he had for the soul of Nigeria.”
Rather than dying in vain, Shettima said Abiola’s dream has become a collective covenant “to stand for what is right, to defend the sanctity of choice, and to honour the blood that watered the roots of our democracy.”
Shettima drew a symbolic parallel between the denied Abiola-Kingibe ticket and Tinubu’s presidency.
“The ticket once denied Nigerians… has found resonance and vindication in a second coming that mirrors it in composition and conviction,” he said.
