2027: Running Mate Issue Will Be Resolved after National Convention, Says APC Secretary
Ajibola Basiru, the National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), claims that party stakeholders have massively approved President Bola Tinubu’s bid for re-election in 2027, although he has yet to decide on his running mate.
Bashiru, a former Senate spokesman, stated that Tinubu’s running mate would be determined following the party’s convention, which is typically conducted roughly a year before the general election.
“As far as we are concerned, the national summit held in the Presidential Villa has endorsed Mr President based on his track record, and a large spectrum of stakeholders in our party have also overwhelmingly given endorsement to Mr President,” the lawyer claimed on Friday.
“The question of running mate is not yet onboard, and nobody has come to say that the president has made any adverse decision as regards the present vice president.”
On Sunday, June 15, 2025, a gathering for APC stakeholders from Nigeria’s North-East geopolitical zone turned violent in Gombe State after APC North-East Vice Chairman Mustapha Salihu declared Tinubu as the party’s sole candidate for re-election without mentioning Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Some members protested the exclusion, arguing that the vice president should be included in the endorsement. The APC national secretary stated that he was physically present at the conference and that what occurred was not unusual because “people in a democratic setting are born to have different opinions”.
Basiru, an Osun politician, stated, “As far as I am concerned, there was no problem. I was physically present in Gombe state. Following the summit, we had a reception at Government House.
“Some people in the North East believed that simply endorsing the president would allow him to choose his running mate in 2027.
“Some others argue that because the summit is being held in the North East, the vice president, who is from the North East, should also receive an endorsement.
“What I know is that even at the national convention, where a presidential candidate will emerge, only the presidential candidate will be announced.
“The running mate issue will be resolved after that. As far as our party is concerned, we have not issued any statements or become involved in North-East politics.”
Tinubu, a former Lagos governor, ran in the North-East zone for president in 2023 on a joint ticket with Shettima, a former governor of Borno State. The couple won the election and were sworn in on May 29, 2023.
On May 22, 2025, 22 APC governors voted overwhelmingly to support Tinubu as the party’s candidate for the 2027 election. In addition, the governors made no mention of the vice president during their endorsement.
But Borno South Senator Ali Ndume distanced himself from Tinubu’s backing for a second term in government.
He expressed pity for Tinubu. According to him, former President Goodluck Jonathan received the support of 22 governors from his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2015 election but lost his reelection campaign to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC).