BARELY 24 hours to the deadline for political parties to submit the names of nominees for the Presidential and National Assembly election, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) seems set to go ahead with the Tinubu/Shettima presidential ticket.

Checks by The Guardian revealed that despite President Tinubu’s desire to respond to public concerns about the implications of sustaining the same faith ticket, political considerations make it imperative that he should retain Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate.

A close Presidency source confided in TheGuardian that political stakeholders from the North East geopolitical zone had been meeting and strategizing on how to ensure that Shettima remains on the presidential ballot.

He disclosed that while many of the experienced politicians from the zone maintained that it was President Tinubu’s sole right to choose his running mate, they tasked the stakeholders to explore alternative “political routes” that they could adopt if the President goes ahead to drop the Vice President.

“But, many of the APC chieftain expressed optimism that the Vice President would be on the ballot as Tinubu’s running mate. They said that within the past three years Senator Shettima had not done anything to warrant his replacement.

“They listed the VP’s level-headedness, focus on the job and loyalty to President Bola Tinubu as some of the compelling reasons why the President would not change him (Shettima). Then, looking at the political situation in the country right now, there is no person that the President could choose from the north to guarantee huge winning votes than the Vice President.”

He disclosed that the vice-presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has been reaching out to influential North East elders to woo them into ADC to shore up support for former Vice President Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

Said the source: “You know that Amaechi got maximum delegate votes from North East when he contested against Tinubu for the APC ticket in 2022. This time around the ADC vice-presidential candidate has been giving us reasons why we should work for Atiku. He (Amaechi) said that President Tinubu is determined to drop Shettima and pick a weak candidate as his running mate.

“According to Amaechi, President Tinubu is already in trouble with the United States, because of the Muslim/Muslim ticket. One thing I can tell you is that the North East stakeholders have resolved to stick with Shettima. The recent appearance of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff on the Channels Television is part of the strategies that were adopted by the leaders to assure President Tinubu of our continued support and bloc votes.”

However, as at the time of filing this report, none of the APC chieftain contacted could say whether the plan to field either General Christopher Musa or Hon Yakubu Dogara as Tinubu’s running mate has been jettisoned.

“Those close to President Tinubu have told him that fielding Kashim Shettima as a place holder may be difficult to redress due to the strong provisions of the Electoral Act 2026. They suggest that the best thing to do is to drop Shettima and offer him concessions, because it would be hard to convince him (Shettima) to resign after his name has been uploaded,” a former national officer from the North Central, stated. (The Guardian)

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