From Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
As preparations for the 2027 presidential election gain momentum, stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the North East geopolitical zone have advised President Bola Tinubu to drop Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate or risk losing votes from the region in the 2027 presidential election.
A cross-section of APC stakeholders from the zone, in separate interviews with a team of correspondents across the region, described Vice President Kashim Shettima as a political liability to the APC and the aspirations of the President.
The stakeholders lamented that Shettima has been selective in handling party affairs in the zone, favouring only Borno State in appointments and projects, and accused him of working at variance with the ideals and ideologies of the Tinubu administration.
Alhaji Usman Umar Gieri from Adamawa expressed bitterness that major APC chieftains who spent their resources and worked for the APC and President Tinubu from Adamawa, Bauchi, Yobe, Taraba, and Gombe states were denied appointments in the Tinubu government, while those from Borno State were given special preference.
“Please tell me how you want such stakeholders to come out with their resources and work for the party in 2027,” he asked rhetorically.
Aminu Mustapha, another APC stalwart from Yola, Adamawa State, said that the only way President Tinubu would be guaranteed massive votes from the North East in 2027 is to replace Shettima with a more popular, vibrant, and politically active person as a running mate.
“Instead of wooing new members into the APC and carrying along real major stakeholders, the VP has developed the habit of favouring only his stooges for federal appointments meant for the North East region,” he said.
He added that several prominent APC stakeholders from the zone were victims of Shettima’s “sledgehammer” but are afraid to speak out for fear of further victimisation.
“Why would the Vice President select some specific APC stakeholders from the zone and give them special preference above others, a situation that has forced many party loyalists to lose interest in the affairs of the APC in their states,” he said.
Some stakeholders expressed bitterness that the Vice President unilaterally used his position to change the position of the Managing Director of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) from Gombe to Borno by reinstating Mohammed Alkali Goni, who had earlier completed his tenure and was replaced by then-President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
“All the Commissioners appointed by former President Buhari and other appointees from the states that made up the North East region were changed and replaced with Shettima’s stooges.
“President Muhammadu Buhari had already appointed Dr Umar Abubakar Hashidu from Gombe State as the new Managing Director and CEO, but Shettima, upon assumption as Vice President, upturned the appointment and gave it back to Alhaji Alkali from Borno,” they claimed.
Alhaji Garba Tijani, a chieftain of the APC in Gombe State, said that the Vice President was marginalising other states in the zone to favour Borno, which, according to him, is part of the reasons stakeholders in the North East do not want Shettima as Vice President in the next dispensation.
Another APC stalwart from Yobe State, Alhaji Bakura Idris Zana, said that “APC loyalists in the North East are now political orphans and have no one to run to because of Shettima’s attitude.”
Hajia Hadiza Aliyu, an APC stakeholder from Bauchi State, advised Tinubu to choose between the votes from the North East and Shettima.
“Shettima is our headache in the North East. We work for our party because we expect reward, but the VP has monopolised every benefit meant for the zone to himself,” she lamented.
The views of Hadiza Aliyu align with those of Hon. Jonathan Albert, an APC stakeholder from Southern Taraba, who said that a good number of influential APC chieftains from the state were already decamping to other political parties because of neglect by Vice President Shettima and the party. “We are fed up with the APC in Taraba because our leaders who really worked for the party were not considered for appointments. Today, major stakeholders like Honourable Danji SS have dumped the party, citing injustice. That is what we are saying.”
Our correspondent recalls that, during the recent zonal stakeholders’ meeting of the party in Gombe, other states refused to endorse Shettima for VP in 2027. It was only Borno State that endorsed him during the meeting.
Mr Michael Zira, another APC stalwart from Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, also advised President Bola Tinubu to discard Shettima for the party to secure a smooth victory in the 2027 presidential election.
Zira complained that the impact of Shettima as Vice President has not been felt in the zone except in Borno, his home state, and challenged anyone with facts about Shettima’s impact in the North East region, apart from Borno, to come forward and present such.
