Former governor of Borno State, erstwhile senator and now vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Nigeria’s February 25 general elections, Ibrahim Shettima has made what sounds like a shocking revelation to many Nigerians.

Shettima says the northern part of Nigeria has refused to support his political quest to become vice-president of Nigeria because of his ethnic origins. He laments that the Hausa and Fulani ethnic nationalities in the northern part of Nigeria who are generally considered to be the most populous ethnic blocks in the North have refused to support him.

Shettima is Kanuri by origins and his ethnic group is considered to be the dominant social and political group in Borno State. Now he says major ethnic groups in the North are using his ethnic identity to not support him. He made the claim at the palace of the Emir of Daura during a courtesy call as part of the campaign of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He told his audience in Hausa: ” I am not Hausa but I am related to Fulani blood. I am Kanuri but I have done more for the North than the other candidate ( obviously referring to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the  Presidential candidate of the PDP ). People say ours is ours but someone who has not done anything for us cannot be called ours. What did Atiku do for the North as Vice President for eight years? ”