With the deadline for political parties to submit the names of their presidential and National Assembly candidates set to expire in just 24 hours, it appears that the All Progressives Congress (APC) may retain Vice President Kashim Shettima as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
Religious concerns over presenting another Muslim-Muslim ticket have been a worry but sources in the Presidency and the ruling party said political calculations were tilting increasingly in favour of Shettima’s retention.
A Presidency source said that influential political stakeholders from the North-East, had stepped up consultations to ensure that the Vice President remained on the APC presidential ticket.
Some political leaders in the region acknowledged Tinubu’s constitutional and political discretion to choose his running mate, but had begun to look for other options if the president decided to replace Shettima, the source said.
But many APC chieftains were said to be hopeful that the Vice President would still make the ballot.
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“The party leaders believe that Shettima’s loyalty, calm disposition and commitment to his responsibilities have bolstered his chances of remaining Tinubu’s running mate,” the source said.
The source said: “They said Senator Shettima had done nothing in the last three years to warrant replacement.
“The VP’s level-headedness, commitment to the job and loyalty to President Tinubu are some of the compelling reasons the President will not change him, they said.
“Then, if you look at the political situation of the country now, there is no person that the President could choose from the North to assure huge winning votes more than the Vice President.
The source said that the removal of Shettima might cause political discontent in the North-East where stakeholders seem to be mobilising to defend the region’s position on the presidential ticket.
The source further alleged that the ADC vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, had been making overtures to influential leaders in the North-East to garner support for the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
He said Amaechi’s political relevance in the region goes as far back as the 2022 APC presidential primary where he was said to have garnered significant delegate support from the North-East.
“You know Amaechi got the highest number of delegate votes from the North-East when he contested with Tinubu for the APC ticket in 2022.
“Atiku is giving us reasons to work for him this time around with the ADC vice-presidential candidate. “He said President Tinubu is hell-bent on dumping Shettima and picking a weak running mate.”
The source said Amaechi also expressed concern over the perception of the APC’s same-faith presidential ticket outside the country.
Amaechi also said President Tinubu was already in trouble with the United States over the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“One thing I can tell you is that the stakeholders of the North-East have made up their minds to stand by Shettima.
He said the recent television appearance of former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, was part of the efforts by the leaders in the region to assure Tinubu of continued support and bloc votes from the North-East.
As at the time of filing this report, APC leaders contacted could not confirm whether reported plans to consider the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa (retd.), and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, as alternative running mates had been dropped.
The two men were said to have emerged in talks over who could replace Shettima, as the APC faces pressure to balance its ticket religiously.
But a former APC national officer from the North-Central said provisions of the Electoral Act could make it difficult to upload Shettima’s name as a placeholder and replace him later.
“The people around President Tinubu have been telling him that running Shettima as a placeholder might be difficult to reverse due to the strong provisions of the Electoral Act 2026,” the former official said.
“They say the best thing to do is to drop Shettima and give him concessions because it will be difficult to convince him to resign after uploading his name.