Labour Party’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, has come under fierce criticism over his recent comments about Vice President Kashim Shettima, with a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Centre for Leadership Legacy International (Centre LLI), strongly condemning the utterances credited to him.
Baba-Ahmed, in an interview with broadcaster Seun Okinbaloye on the _Mic On Podcast_, had claimed that Vice President Shettima does not wear the popular Asiwaju Tinubu cap because was advised by his Islamic marabout not to wear the cap.
The cap, exclusively President Bola Tinubu’s signature, has become so popular that it is worn by politicians and others who are loyal to the President as a symbol of loyalty.
Reacting to the development on Thursday, Centre LLI said the statement is “not only false and mischievous, but also dangerous, bigoted and an insult to the Office of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The CSO Centre, in the statement signed by its Executive Director, Dr. Abdul Hussein, said, “The Asiwaju Cap, which has become President Bola Tinubu’s signature and a symbol of loyalty to his political philosophy, is worn by choice, not by compulsion.
“To reduce the Vice President’s personal style and identity to a purported instruction from a marabout is to peddle religious blackmail and to inject spiritual diatribe into our politics.”
Centre LLI said it is even more disturbing that the comment is coming from a man who is making “wild, unverified claims on national television just to remain relevant after his failed political projections.”
The Centre said it finds it “deeply irresponsible for a former vice-presidential candidate to: Drag the revered Islamic faith and the private spiritual life of the Vice President into public mockery; attempt to create a wedge between President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima, who have continued to demonstrate unity, loyalty and joint commitment to the Renewed Hope Agenda; trivialize national discourse with gossip instead of offering constructive opposition.”
The Centre maintained that the Vice President’s loyalty to President Tinubu and to Nigeria is unquestionable and does not need validation through a cap, even as it said “governance is about performance, not headgear.”
Centre LLI therefore called on Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed to immediately withdraw the inflammatory statement and apologize.
“Centre LLI therefore calls on Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed to immediately withdraw this inflammatory statement and apologize to Vice President Kashim Shettima, to Nigerian Muslims, and to Nigerians at large for his attempt to weaponize religion to score cheap political points,” the statement said.
The group also urged media platforms to be cautious, saying “we also urge media platforms to exercise caution and not provide a podium for statements capable of heating up the polity and undermining national cohesion.
“Politics should be about ideas, achievements and alternatives, not about spiritual insinuations and sycophantic symbols,” it added.