Vice-President Kashim Shettima has recounted how the former Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari, supported President Bola Tinubu’s presidential ambition against all odds in 2023.

Shettima, who revealed this at the Ninth Expanded National MSME Clinics in Katsina, said Masari and few other northern governors openly endorsed and supported the president during the 2023 poll.

He explained that when some politicians in the northern region were claiming that the former president, late Muhammadu Buhari, was against President Tinubu, Masari unequivocally declared his support and stood firmly for him.

The vice-president disclosed that some people said: “Baba (Buhari) baya son Tinubu” which is literally translated as “Buhari doesn’t like Tinubu,” but Masari backed Tinubu’s candidacy amid all the adversities.

He said: “Truly, truly, the president is mightily proud of Katsina. And it’s only those who have been in the deepest valley that will appreciate how magnificent it is to be on the mountaintop.

“When our back was against the wall…there were some few governors in the north that firmly stood behind the president. One of them is seated here.

“We had our turning point when we came to Katsina and the then Governor of Katsina State, Right Honourable Aminu Bello Masari, unequivocally endorsed and supported President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambition.

“And if Kano is the California of Nigerian politics, certainly with 34 local government areas, Katsina is the New York of Nigerian politics.”

He stated that President Tinubu considered Katsina State as his second home because most of his leading political allies are illustrious sons of the state who had contributed meaningfully to the development of the nation’s political landscape.

Shettima named late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Late President Muhammadu Buhari and Senator Abu Ibrahim as the political allies of the president. (This Day)