The North-Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has issued a strong warning against moves to drop Vice President Kashim Shettima from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s running mate slot for the 2027 presidential election, describing any such shift as a “grave political miscalculation.”
In a statement delivered in Abuja by Forum Chairman Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the group rejected reports that some elements within the ruling party are advocating for Shettima’s replacement with a Christian candidate from the North ahead of the 2027 polls.
According to the Forum, changing the Tinubu-Shettima ticket risks undermining the party’s unity and electoral strength particularly among northern Muslim voters.
Previous warnings from the same regional APC grouping suggested that President Tinubu could lose as much as 80 per cent of northern Muslim votes if Shettima were dropped.
The statement also addressed lingering internal debates over the so-called Muslim-Muslim ticket arrangement, emphasizing that religious considerations should not override strategic political calculations.
It underscored that the North-Central region is focused on contesting the presidency in 2031, rather than seeking the vice-presidential slot for itself in the short term.
The development comes amid wider tensions within the APC, including recent reactions from northern party youth groups who have also warned against any attempt to replace Shettima on the 2027 ticket.
Rumours about Shettima’s possible exclusion were fuelled by the omission of his photograph from a banner at an APC public hearing, sparking speculation about internal party debates over ticket composition.
Party chieftains and stakeholders have publicly argued that the northern region currently lacks a Christian running mate candidate with comparable national appeal, making any change strategically risky.
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