As conversations around the 2027 presidential election gather momentum, political observers are beginning to place a ask to tricky questions, one in every of them being whether Vice President Kashim Shettima will retain his dwelling beside President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the APC imprint.
The growing silence around Shettima’s name, especially during recent accumulate together endorsements for Tinubu, has finest added gasoline to these speculations.
Tranquil, despite the rumours, there are solid indicators that President Tinubu might per chance well doubtless furthermore stick with Shettima heading into the next election. Right here’s why,
Loyalty and crew stability
One in every of Shettima’s glorious strengths is his unshaken loyalty. Since assuming dwelling of business, he has continuously stood behind Tinubu and echoed the administration’s targets, policies, and achievements even in tough times.
Within the APC, this loyalty has made him a relied on determine and a stabilising force. For Tinubu, who’s running a executive that also faces several challenges economically and politically, there is worth in maintaining a united front.
Changing running mates might per chance well imprint disunity and potentially unsettle the internal structure of the APC. In politics, consistency regularly wins the glide, and Shettima has been nothing if no longer fixed.
Northern reinforce and political energy in the Northeast
Shettima’s political relevance stretches some distance past Abuja. As a archaic two-term governor of Borno Inform and latest Vice President, he instructions solid influence across the northeast.
His presence on the 2023 imprint helped bring key votes from the dwelling and might per chance well enact so again in 2027.
The recent endorsement by APC stakeholders from the northeast further underlines his relevance. For Tinubu to retain his grip on northern votes especially given the relaxed steadiness of regional expectations keeping Shettima might per chance well doubtless furthermore no longer correct be strategic; it is going to be indispensable.
Non secular and regional steadiness
Let’s be lawful: the 2023 Muslim-Muslim imprint stirred lots of controversy. But in the quit, it worked. Tinubu and Shettima secured victory despite the noise. Changing that formula now might per chance well backfire.
Numerous political figures, including Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, maintain warned Tinubu against turning his support on the north or trying to rebalance energy by replacing Shettima with somebody from a particular religious or regional background.
Doing so might per chance well doubtless furthermore be considered as political betrayal and must mark the APC key reinforce in the north especially among Muslims who look for Shettima as their very most life like-ranking representative in the latest executive.
Baba-Ahmed set it simply: If Tinubu ditches Shettima no longer for performance reasons, nevertheless for optics or religious balancing, it might per chance well well construct extra problems than it solves.
