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2027: Anxiety as Shettima awaits Tinubu’s decision on running mate

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2027: Anxiety as Shettima awaits Tinubu’s decision on running mate

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

President Bola Tinubu had no hurdle picking the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the 2027 presidential election.

Unlike in 2022, when he faced fierce but ultimately weak opposition within the party, this time it is a mere coronation.

In 2022, he had to sweat it out with the sitting vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the former governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, and others.

However, times have changed, and the president is completely in charge of the body and soul of the APC.

In fact, nobody ordinarily should have summoned the courage to challenge or engage him in any form of contest, whether spiritual or physical, for the party’s ticket.

Now that the ticket in his hand, the next question is who will become his running mate: Will he keep his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, or look for someone else?

There were pockets of opposition in 2022 when Tinubu picked Shettima as his running mate. The resistance was primarily based on the country’s fragile religious composition.

Tinubu is a Muslim and so is Shettima, and religious balancing was placed on the front burner, especially amid allegations of a plot to Islamize the country.

However, as the 2027 polls draw nearer and Tinubu has secured the party’s ticket, there are indications he will run the race with Shettima. Some political analysts have described Shettima as the most loyal deputy in nearly three decades of democratic government in Nigeria. 

The vice president, the analysts say, understands and interprets the policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration without animosity or confrontation.

He appears to have studied his boss to know the best way to follow him.

Another factor working in Shettima’s favour is loyalty.

In politics, loyalty must be total; any suspicious move leads to friction.

Shettima appears to have avoided missteps and thus earned Tinubu’s confidence.

The issue of a same-faith ticket (Muslim/Muslim) appears to have faded, especially with the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, being a Christian and a pastor in the Redeemed Church.

The idea of Islamization cannot hold water given Mrs. Tinubu’s influence in government.

As a master political strategist, Tinubu may have concluded that it would amount to political suicide to drop Shettima at this critical time. Politics is a game of numbers, and the vice president is one of the heavyweight politicians from the northern flank.

He has his followers who are ready to lay down their lives for him.

Observers also point to the cordial relationship between Mrs Tinubu, and the wife of the vice president, Hajia Nana Shettima.

The First Lady founded the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI), which has impacted women and girls positively.

Hajia Nana Shettima is the national vice-chairman of RHI and routinely represents the First Lady at RHI events and outreach programmes across states.

As it stands, despite intrigues and quiet political manoeuvring, it would be surprising to see Tinubu drop Shettima.

But in politics nothing is impossible.

The post 2027: Anxiety as Shettima awaits Tinubu’s decision on running mate appeared first on Vanguard News.


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Politics

2027: Will be difficult for Atiku to win with Amaechi as VP – Wike

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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday declared that it would be difficult for the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar to win the 2027 election with a running mate like Rotimi Amaechi.

Wike said if Atiku is relying on Amaechi to get votes then his victory is dead on arrival.

Speaking during his monthly media chat in Abuja, the Minister said, “Amaechi as the running mate to Atiku, I have come to know that it will be difficult for Atiku to be president, in all the calculations if you are choosing a vice presidential candidate, a running mate, I’m sure that the only factor that made him to choose Amaechi may be financial.

“If it’s in terms of bringing votes to support Atiku, he is dead on arrival.”

Wike recalled how the late former President Muhammadu Buhari could not pull 25 percent votes with Amaechi as his campaign Director General.

He said: “I was a Minister of State while he was governor and I defeated him very well, he has never won an election since after 2011 when I was the DG of the campaign.

“He was the DG of Buhari in 2015 and Buhari did not get 25 percent, he was the DG in 2019 when he was a minister and Buhari did not get 25 percent.”

The Minister further dismissed claims that Amaechi is an asset to the people of Rivers State and Niger Delta.

He added: “Is he an asset to Rivers State and South South? You must be a former governor that still has followers, you must say when you were a minister what did you bring to the people of your state? As a minister what did your government do to impact the lives of Rivers people, so it’s not about being former this or that.

“In the South South, which state will he have impact on and that’s why we say that the way we are, just one month ago, this was the same man who said the ADC primary was married by irregularities and corruption, the same man now is benefitting from the corruption and irregularities of the same system.”




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2027: ‘You worked against your brother’ – Wike on why Amaechi can’t be VP

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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Nyesom Wike has slammed the vice presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Rotimi Amaechi for allegedly working against the re-election of Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

Wike, who spoke on Tuesday at a media chat with selected journalists in Abuja, said the South South people have not forgotten Amaechi’s role in Jonathan’s defeat.

According to the Minister, Amaechi cannot kick his own brother out and expect to be kicked in as a vice president.

He said, “When Jonathan from the South South wanted to run for the second term, Amaechi came out on national television and said “kick him out”.

“A South South person wants to run for his second term and you are proud to kick him out. Then the South South should be happy for you to be vice president?

“You kicked your own brother out and then you want people to kick you in”.

The Minister urged Rivers State residents to reject Amaechi at the forthcoming general elections, accusing him of being a disgrace to the state.

Wike also said that when Amaechi was a minister, he never brought any development to the state.




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‘His Maitama house, Rivers money’- Wike alleges Bode George is father of corruption

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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, has accused a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bode George, as father of corruption.

Wike made this allegation on Tuesday during a media parley with selected journalists.

The minister also alleged that Bode George’s house in Maitama Abuja was built with Rivers State money.

Wike alleged, “You don’t stay in one place and start saying something that is not correct. Anytime he loses, he will be calling judiciary corrupt, meanwhile he’s the father of corruption.

“Even the house he’s staying in at Maitama, Abuja is Rivers State’s money. I say so. Let him come out and prove me wrong,” Wike challenged.

Recall that the former Rivers State governor and the elder statesman have been critical of each other, especially about the crisis in the PDP.




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