APC Has No Plans To Substitute Shettima, Party Chieftain
Amid mounting speculation of a schism between President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Ismaeel Ahmed, has categorically denied any intention to replace the Vice President in the 2027 presidential campaign.
A former member of the APC Board of Trustees called the charges “malicious rumours” and said there was no substance to the reports implying discord between the two top executives.
“It (friction) is not true. I’m pretty familiar with it. Who has a 100 percent relationship with anyone? There is confidence between President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima. “We are attempting to create an issue where there is none,” Ahmed stated on Tuesday.
“All of this, as far as I’m concerned, is gossip—complete hearsay. I am fully aware that there is no debate of substituting the Vice President. There is no mention of the vice president being blocked.
“Those are all malicious rumours by people who probably don’t understand what’s going on in the presidency or don’t know how the presidency works.”
Ahmed urged party members and Nigerians to focus on governance rather than political distractions, pointing out that the administration still has a substantial portion of its mandate to fulfil.
“The voters gave us a four-year mandate. Two years have gone; we have one year till the primaries and two years until the general election. For God’s sake, we have a government in place, a party in power. That means that we must, at the very least, follow INEC rules. “Let’s focus on governing,” he said.
“There are so many things we’re doing properly; let’s promote them. We need to successfully communicate with the public. That should be the primary goal of both the party and the government. Anything other than that is a distraction.The statements follow Sunday’s APC North-East meeting in Gombe, which was marred by controversy after Mustapha Salihu, the party’s National Vice Chairman (North-East), endorsed President Tinubu for a second term without naming Vice President Shettima.
During the show, Ahmed stressed that the support represented APC traditions as well as the broader structure of national politics, rather than indicating internal conflict.
“We have a culture in the APC, and that culture is that the sitting president is not challenged; he is going to have his second-term ticket if he wants it,” the leader said.
“The drama that occurred at the APC North-East Summit was overly dramatic. Why are we supporting a president who does not need it? Tinubu does not require endorsement from his own political party. It is a given that he will be our candidate in 2027.
He describes such endorsements as “orchestrated sycophancy.” As far as I’m concerned, there should be no more endorsements.”Ahmed also warned against prematurely labelling political opponents as dangers, noting that the party’s energy should be directed towards government rather than campaign strategies.
“APC is not afraid of any resistance. “The president and vice president must travel across states to communicate with the people,” he remarked.
“That’s why I asked—why are we doing all this? Who is chasing us? Why are we running? Why are we responding to an opposition that has not yet formed?”
Ahmed continued, “I know the President well enough to say he promotes competition. He does not run away from it. He is not terrified of it at all. I appreciate that the party needs to whip up the base and get us moving in a specific direction—there will be time for that. However, now is not the time for a campaign.
“The government cannot respond to opposition. I believe we should take it easy, concentrate on governance, and drill down into what the President is doing.”
Meanwhile, Salihu, the entangled vice chairman, spoke on Monday’s episode of the same broadcast, dismissing allegations of Shettima’s marginalisation as the product of “conflict entrepreneurs.”
He stated, “The administration of a party is not run on social media, newspapers, or television. “It is handled internally.”
“These kinds of rumours are unavoidable in any administration—people will constantly try to indicate conflict between the principal and the Vice. This is what some insecure politicians live on. But if you are confident in yourself, you should not be disturbed by such chatter.
“Anybody who claims there is unrest (in the North-east) is simply false. We did everything the law allowed—we mentioned and praised our son. Other zones did not have that responsibility.
“We don’t have a vice-presidential ticket to present; there is only one ticket: President. Endorsing Tinubu under certain conditions would have been unacceptable. Suggesting a running mate for the 2027 election at this point is like putting the waggon before the horse,” Salihu said.