26th May, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima have made history as the first senators to be elected as President-elect and Vice-President-elect respectively in Nigeria.
They will also make history on Monday when they are sworn-in as President and Vice-President respectively. They will be the first senators to have ever occupied such offices in Nigeria’s history.
Tinubu was elected a senator in 1992 under the Social Democratic Party (SDP), representing Lagos West Senatorial District in the short-lived Nigerian Third Republic.
Shettima served as senator for Borno Central since 2019 before becoming running mate to the president-elect.
Also, Tinubu is the second two-term governor to be elected president in Nigeria after late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Tinubu and Yar’Adua served as governors of Lagos and Katsina respectively between 1999 and 2007.
Shettima will be the first two-term governor to be sworn-in as Vice President in Nigeria’s history. Shettima was the governor of Borno State from 2011 to 2019.
Also, Tinubu after swearing-in on Monday will be the second oldest president Nigeria has ever produced. He will be sworn in as president at the age of 71. President Muhammadu Buhari is the oldest man to have assumed the presidency at the age of 72 in 2015.