No plan to substitute Shettima in 2027- APC Chieftain
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ismaeel Ahmed, has firmly dismissed rumours of any plan to replace the Vice President , Sen. Kashim Shettima for the 2027 presidential race.
Speaking on Channels Television’s prime time programme Politics Today, the former member of the APC Board of Trustees described the claims as “malicious rumours” and insisted there was no substance to the reports suggesting discontent between the two top leaders.
“It’s (friction) not true. I know it very well. Who is ever in a 100 per cent relationship with anyone? There is trust between President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima. We are trying to create an issue where there is none. All of these, as far as I am concerned, are rumours—absolutely rumours. I am absolutely aware there is no discussion about substituting the Vice President. There is no discussion about the vice president being blocked, said Ahmed.
“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, adding that the administration still has a significant part of its mandate to deliver.
“We have a mandate from the people for four years. Two years have passed; we have one year to the primaries and two to the general elections. For God’s sake, we are a government in office, a party in government. That means we are supposed to obey the rules of INEC at a minimum. Let’s focus on governing. There are so many things we are doing right—let’s espouse them. We need to communicate with the people effectively. That should be the focus of the party and the government. Anything other than that is a distraction”, said Ahmed.
The comments come in the wake of Sunday’s APC North-East summit in Gombe, which ended in commotion after Mustapha Salihu, the party’s National Vice Chairman (North-East), endorsed President Tinubu for a second term —without mentioning Vice President Shettima.
