R-L: President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima
By Deji Abdulwahab
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Haruna Yerima, has advised the ruling party against tampering with the Tinubu/Shettima presidential ticket for the 2027 general elections.
In a statement he issued on Monday, in Abuja, the don said that those canvassing for a change of the present status quo were the same elements who fought tooth and nail against the Tinubu/Shettima ticket in 2023.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that tempering with the Tinubu/Shettima presidential ticket would not augur well for the APC in the 2027 general elections.
“It is appalling that those who never believed the Tinubu/Shettima ticket would deliver victory in 2023 are now working round the clock to change it.
“They should be stopped now, else, the ruling party will suffer its greatest defeat in 2027,” the former House of Representatives member said.
Yerima said the advocates of tinkering with the Tinubu/Shetima ticket were not just short-sighted, but politically naive.
He said that the North-Central zone has been fully compensated and taken care of with several Grade A federal appointments.
The don also dismissed insinuations that the “Christian genocide” canvassed by President Donald Trump was the key factor deepening the need for altering the Tinubu/Shettima ticket in 2027.
“It is not true that United States President will determine who Nigeria’s Vice President should be.
“This is the handiwork of political jobbers and fifth columnists,” the APC chieftain said.
According to him, Shettima has been very dutiful and loyal to President Bola Tinubu.
“It is on record that Shettima has been a very loyal and competent deputy to President Tinubu. He is not noisy.
“Even his political detractors cannot deny that he is a competent powerhouse with strong intellectual capabilities. His political antecedents are legendary,” he said.
It would be recalled that the Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdulkarim Lawan, recently raised an alarm over the exclusion of Shettima’s from certain political activities.
Lawan specifically complained about the exclusion of Shetima’s picture from the banner portraying party leaders in the region during the North East Governors and APC stakeholders in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.(NAN)
