KATSINA – A fresh wave of anxiety is brewing within the All Progressives Congress (APC) as speculations of a plan to drop Vice President Kashim Shettima from the 2027 presidential ticket continue to stir controversy across party ranks, particularly in the North-East.
The tension, which erupted into open confrontation at the recent APC North-East Zonal Consultative Meeting in Gombe, has revived concerns about internal party divisions reminiscent of the 2022 presidential nomination saga.
Party insiders revealed that the Gombe meeting was initially billed to be a routine engagement but quickly descended into chaos after rumours spread that APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, was in the state to “test the waters” on replacing Shettima ahead of the next general elections.
Delegates reportedly reacted angrily when the party’s North-East Vice Chairman, Comrade Mustapha Salihu, endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid without including Shettima’s name. The omission was widely interpreted as a deliberate signal of a looming change in the 2027 ticket.
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, a strong ally of Shettima, openly rebuked his Gombe counterpart, Governor Inuwa Yahaya, accusing him of colluding in the plot to edge out the Vice President. The resulting uproar forced the meeting to end without a consensus communique, highlighting the depth of disagreement among stakeholders.
Sources told The Guardian that President Tinubu may be considering a shake-up of the party’s ticket, partly in response to lingering criticisms over the Muslim-Muslim pairing that defined the 2023 elections. Reports also suggest Ganduje’s role in the planned “ticket surgery” is tied to preserving his own position as APC National Chairman, as the party recalibrates power-sharing formulas.
However, Salihu, speaking on Channels Television, dismissed suggestions of a cold war between the President and his deputy. He argued that it was standard practice for presidential endorsements to focus on the candidate alone, as it is ultimately the candidate’s prerogative to select a running mate.
But critics within the party say that explanation is disingenuous.
“For an existing joint ticket, the endorsement should go for the ticket as a package—unless you want to bless the pregnant woman and exclude her foetus,” a North-West APC chieftain told The Guardian. He described the handling of the matter as politically clumsy and lacking proper consultation.
The backlash also revives memories of 2022 when several North-West governors hoped to be picked as Tinubu’s running mate, only to be overlooked in favour of Shettima, then a former Borno State governor. The decision to opt for a North-Easterner reportedly caused quiet discontent among the North-West bloc, which felt sidelined despite its numerical strength at the polls.
Observers now believe those lingering resentments may be re-emerging as the party looks ahead to 2027.
For now, the APC leadership has not made any official statement on the future of the 2027 ticket. But the unrest in Gombe and the lack of a joint endorsement signal internal rifts the ruling party may need to address quickly to avoid further cracks ahead of the next election cycle.
