Shettima: Atiku is more of Raila Odinga — he’s no Abraham Lincoln

Kashim Shettima, former governor of Borno, has compared Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to Raila Odinga, former prime minister of Kenya.

Shettima, who is the vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke on Tuesday at a town hall meeting with business leaders in Lagos.

He said Abubakar cannot be likened to former United States President Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln, revered for helping to end slavery, served as US president from 1861 until his assassination in 1865.

On the other hand, Odinga, who was prime minister from 2008 to 2013, has sought to be Kenya’s president multiple times, but he keeps coming up short, including in this year’s presidential poll won by William Ruto.

Abubakar first sought to be Nigeria’s president in 1992. He also lost the presidential polls in 2007 and 2019.

Shettima said Abubakar, who was vice-president from 1999 to 2007, does not have the capacity to rule Nigeria.

“Leadership has got beyond the statesman… someone who cannot unite his party. I wonder how he is going to unite this nation,” he said.

“The world is talking about artificial intelligence, big data, and nanotechnology. The training that the elder statesman got from the Kano school of hygiene was that of a ‘wole wole’. And believe me, the ability to sell bottled water doesn’t make one an expert on the economy.

“My parting short shot is that Atiku Abubakar is no Abraham Lincon, he is more of Raila Odinga and come next year, we are going to permanently retire the political tourist to Dubai.”

In September, Shettima had also described Abubakar as a “political tourist” who is only in the country every election cycle.