Governor Shettima of Borno State

Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, has warned the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar,  and candidates of other political parties not to be deceived by what are being posted on the social media on their likely chances against the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election.

Shettima who spoke to journalists in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State on Wednesday warned that pontifications on the social media may not be a reflection of what is on the ground in reality.

The Governor said the incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will win emphatically in 2019.

“The Presidential election is almost a foregone conclusion by the grace of God. For my knowledge of Nigerian politics; I have been in the business of politics for the past twenty years and I know how the Nigerian political terrain works.

“2019 is going to be different from that of 2015. In 2015, candidate Buhari got 169,000 votes in the whole of the South-east which was what he got in Maiduguri metropolis. But in 2019, the game has changed.

“Major players in the south-east sub region have joined the APC fold. Emmanuel Uduaghan was the man who delivered 1.4 million votes to Jonathan in 2015 and wherever you see Emmanuel Uduaghan there James Ibori is not far off. And these are in the APC. All the three Senators in Rivers state are in the APC. The man who generated 1.3 votes for Jonathan in Akwa Ibom is now in APC.

He also described as lies the claim that the mammoth crowd that received President Buhari in Miaduguri was rented.

“He (Buhari) came with the shortest of notices. How could we have hired such a large crowd?

“This is a Buhari country. He’s the single kinetic figure in Borno political firmament. It is not an issue of dispute; this is a Buhari country. He has a tight grip over the people on this side.”