THE North-East stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have protested what appeared as a planned replacement of Vice President Kashim Shetima as President Bola Tinubu’s running mate in the 2027 poll.
At a meeting of the party’s stakeholders in the region on Sunday, June 15, the party’s leaders endorsed Tinubu for re-election but was silent about Shettima, a former governor of Borno State.
Protest erupted at the meeting venue, in Gombe State, after the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, and National Vice Chairman (North-East) Mustapha Salihu endorsed only Tinubu.
Multiple reports claim Ganduje and Salihu were escorted out of the venue by security operatives due to protests from delegates over their failure to endorse Shettima.
The APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Bukar Dalori, who later addressed the gathering, endorsed both Tinubu and Shettima for a second term to douse the tension.
Despite his address, the charged atmosphere persisted, and Dalori, too, had to be escorted out of the venue by security operatives.
An eyewitness, Danburam Danladi, told Punch that the incident highlighted crises brewing within the APC as internal politicking intensifies ahead of the next general elections.
Recall that Nigerians protested against Tinubu-Shettima’s candidacy in 2023 because both leaders are Muslims.
Though no major crisis has been reported between the leaders since they assumed office on May 29, 2023, many Nigerians doubt if both politicians will fly the party’s flag in 2027, given that Tinubu had no record of working with a deputy while he led Lagos State as governor, and the need to resolve the imbalance created by the Muslim-Muslim ticket – the first in the country’s history.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance