The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is facing growing tension after rumours spread that President Bola Tinubu may drop Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.
What started as a routine North-East stakeholders’ meeting in Gombe on Sunday turned chaotic when party members protested loudly against the possible replacement of Shettima.
Trouble began when APC National Vice Chairman for the North-East, Mustapha Salihu, gave a speech endorsing Tinubu for a second term but failed to mention Shettima. Angry party supporters began chanting “Shettima! Shettima!!” before violence broke out.
In a video that has now gone viral, one delegate stormed the stage and hit Salihu with a chair. Another person threw a plastic bucket at him before security operatives rushed him out of the venue.
Tensions grew even higher when APC National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, also failed to mention Shettima in his closing remarks. This led some delegates to threaten that the North-East might support opposition leader Atiku Abubakar if Shettima was removed from the ticket.
Chanting “No Shettima, no APC in the North-East,” the angry supporters demanded clarity from party leaders.
In response, Deputy National Chairman (North), Ali Bukar Dalori, tried to calm the situation.
“There is no cause for alarm. The Tinubu/Shettima ticket is non-negotiable. We haven’t found the sin Senator Shettima committed to warrant a substitution,” Dalori said on Monday.
He described the incident as regrettable and said the party remains united behind Tinubu and Shettima.
Ganduje, through his aide Chief Oliver Okpala, condemned the attack, calling it “grievously irresponsible and unpatriotic.”
“This was not just an assault on the National Chairman, but on the entire APC leadership. Nigeria’s democracy cannot be allowed to slide into lawlessness,” the statement said.
Okpala said Ganduje’s relationship with Tinubu and Shettima was “as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar” and warned that violence must never be used in politics.
“Politics is not violence,” he said. “It is dialogue, lobbying, and consultation.”
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Former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, also warned the APC not to drop Shettima.
“This is an unnecessary crisis. Shettima has performed well and was a unifying choice. Why tamper with a winning team? If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” Shittu said.
Despite official denials, some insiders say the talk of replacing Shettima is part of a political strategy to gain support in other regions. But political analysts warn that such a move could hurt APC’s chances in 2027.
“Dropping Shettima could fracture the fragile regional alliances that brought Tinubu to power,” one analyst warned.
Mustapha Salihu, who was attacked during the meeting, spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. He said only President Tinubu has the power to choose his running mate.
“Only the presidential candidate emerges during primaries. It is his prerogative to choose his running mate,” Salihu said.
He denied that he deliberately left out Shettima’s name during his speech.
“The last paragraph of my speech before the fracas was about Shettima. I said he is our son and we stand behind him,” he explained.
Salihu also blamed “crisis entrepreneurs” for creating tension within the party.
“Some people thrive on creating confusion. These rumours are expected as elections draw closer,” he said.
He added that security agencies are investigating the attack and promised to reveal more once the facts are clear.
He asked, “If you cannot coerce a small person like me, is it Asiwaju you want to intimidate? It is a wrong way of trying to get political advantage.”