A few hours ago, Bola Tinubu, the APC’s presidential contender for the general election of 2023, named Kashim Shettima, a former governor of Borno State, as his running mate.
The announcement was made during a private meeting that Tinubu had on Sunday in his Daura home with President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret.). Here are 15 things to know about the APC vice presidential candidate:
1 – Shettima was born on September 2, 1966.
2 – He attended Lamisula Primary School in Maiduguri from 1972 to 1978.
3 – He started his secondary education at the Government Community Secondary School, Biu, in southern part of Borno State, from 1978 to 1980; and transferred to the Government Science Secondary School, Potiskum (now in neighbouring Yobe State), where he completed his secondary education in 1983.
4 – He bagged a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Maiduguri in 1989.
5 – He had his one-year compulsory youth service on the National Youths Service Corps scheme at the defunct Nigerian Agricultural Cooperative Bank, Calabar, Cross River State, from 1989 to 1990.
6 – He obtained a Master’s degree (MSc) in Agricultural Economics in 1991 at the University of Ibadan.
7 – Shettima was a lecturer with the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Maiduguri, and was in the academia from 1991 to 1993.
8 – He worked as a banker from 1993 to 2007, working with several banks until rising to the position of a General Manager at Zenith Bank.
9 – His political career began when he was appointed Commissioner of the Borno State Ministry of Finance and Economic Development mid-2007.
10 – He was Commissioner of: Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs (2008); Education (2009); Agriculture and Natural Resources, and finally of the Ministry of Health from where he contested the Borno State governorship in 2011 under the platform of the now defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party, and was inaugurated as governor on May 29, 2011.
11 – He was re-elected as governor of Borno State in 2015.
12 – In February, 2019, he became the winner of the Borno Central Senatorial District election, thereby replacing Senator Babakaka Bashir.
13 – Shettima won a number of awards and recognitions, including: the 2014 Governor of the Year (Leadership Newspapers), Governor of the Year, 2015, (Nigeria Union of Journalists, national body); Governor of the Year, 2015 (NewsWatchTimes Newspapers); Governor of the Year, 2015 (Vanguard Newspapers); Governor of the Year, 2016 (Tell Magazine); 2017 Zik Prize for Leadership; Kaduna NUJ Award for courage and exceptional leadership (2017), FCT NUJ Merit Award for exceptional Leadership, 2017.
14 – He is married to Nana Shettima and they have three children: two females and a male.
15 – Senator Kashim Shettima was appointed as the vice presidential candidate of the APC in the 2023 general election on Sunday, July 10, 2022.