A group within the ruling APC, North Central Group, based in North-Central Nigeria, has said President Bola Tinubu should keep Vice President Kashim Shettima as his partner for the 2027 election.
The group’s chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, shared this view in a public statement from Abuja last Saturday.
This advice comes after another northern group, led by Dominic Alancha, recently warned the President not to use a Muslim-Muslim ticket again. They said this decision lost the APC votes in several northern areas, including the capital city, Abuja, during the last election. Alancha warned that the party would lose even more support in the North, especially the Middle Belt region, if it repeated this strategy.
However, the North-Central APC Forum believes these warnings are not needed. They insist the Muslim-Muslim partnership was a successful strategy for the party in 2023.
Zazzaga explained that choosing a running mate is simply a plan to help the party win an election, and should not be viewed as excluding any religious group.
He also argued that the Middle Belt region is already well represented in government by important Christian leaders, such as the APC’s National Chairman and the Secretary to the Government. Therefore, he feels the region’s interests are being looked after.
The statement read: “The Muslim-Muslim ticket will not affect President Bola Tinubu’s chances in the Middle Belt, which is part of the North-Central, and this is because of the key positions held by Middle Belt Christians in the APC government.
“We can guarantee that Tinubu will get 90 percent of the votes from the North-Central. Tinubu’s achievements in office will guarantee his reelection and as a result, there is no need to take the needless risk of changing a winning team.
“Those that are calling on President Bola Tinubu to change Vice President Kashim Shettima, basing their agitation on the Muslim-Muslim ticket, if you check, you will notice that in 2023, most of their communities voted for Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
“Now if Peter Obi is to come out again in 2027, as expected, what is the guarantee that they will vote for Tinubu even if he is to drop Shettima and replace him with a Christian? Does it mean that these people will now leave Peter Obi and vote for Tinubu?”
The Forum maintained that Tinubu’s performance in office would play a decisive role in determining his chances of re-election, adding that the President should focus on consolidating his achievements rather than altering the political structure that brought him victory in 2023.
“We advise Mr President not to change what worked in the last election. Maintaining the same team will further strengthen the chances of the APC in 2027,” the statement concluded.
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