2023: Borno Attorney General Replaces Ex-gov’ Shettima as APC’s Senatorial Candidate
By Abdulkareem Haruna
The attorney general of Borno state, Kaka-Shehu Lawan, has been elected by the All Progressives Party (APC) to replace former governor Kashim Shettima as the party’s senatorial candidate for Borno central in the coming 2023 general election.
Mr Shettima, a two-term governor of Borno state, was the senator representing Borno Central before he was announced the vice presidential candidate and running mate to the APC Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Mr Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, last month won a keenly contested primary election to emerge as the party’s presidential flag bearer.
The nomination of Senator Shettima, an elected Borno central senatorial candidate for 2023, creates a vacuum in the party’s candidacy. Hence an urgent need for the party to secure a replacement for the former governor.
At a brief party meeting presided by the Governor of Borno state, Babagana Zulum, Barrister Kaka Shehu Lawan was selected and endorsed amongst five other contenders as the preferred choice for the upper chambers of the senate.
The state working committee of the APC later held a primary bye-election during which the attorney general was affirmed as the party senatorial candidate for Borno ventral after a total of 459 of the 480 accredited delegates from the eight local government areas under the constituency voted for him.
The APC chairman for the Borno Central senatorial primary elections, the former deputy governor of Taraba state, Uba Ahamadu-Maigari, who presided over elections said Barrister Kaka-Shehu Lawan met all requirements and scored the highest votes to emerge as the party candidate.
Governor Babagana Zulum described Barrister Kaka Shehu as a man fit for the job because of “his integrity, his capacity, his loyalty and commitment to the party.
Mr Zulum said an extensive consultation was made within the hierarchy of the party to decide on the choice of Barrister Lawan.
“After exhaustive consultation, we all decided to reward Barrister Kaka Shehu Lawan. We chose Kaka-Shehu not because he is better than the rest, but because he has worked assiduously in building the party.”
“Today we present Barrister Kaka-Shehu Lawan as our senatorial candidate for Borno central come 2023, Insha Allah. And we are going to see that he is elected to the upper chamber of the national assembly to continue the good work of our boss and leader Senator Kashim Shettima who by the grace of God is our vice president to our next president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
The new Borno central senatorial candidate for APC thanked God and the entire political leaders of Borno state for the rare opportunity given to him.
He promised not to disappoint his bosses, Governor Zulum, and the APC vice presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima as all members of the party and the entire constituents of Borno central.
Barrister Kaka-Shehu Lawan is a firebrand politician who came into the political limelight when he joined the legal team of the then All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) in early 2000.
In 2015, with the election of Governor Kashim Shettima, Barrister Lawan was appointed an Adviser on Legal master, a position he held until he was upgraded to a substantive commissioner and attorney general in 2013. Since then, KSL, as he is fondly called, continued to serve as attorney general of Borno stall. He had over saw many ministries and headed countless strategic security committees in the Borno state government.
