Ogona Anita
A summit of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held in Gombe State turned chaotic after Vice President Kashim Shettima was conspicuously excluded from a 2027 re-election endorsement for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The event, organized by Northern APC stakeholders, brought together delegates from the North-East geopolitical zone, including Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe states. Governors Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Babagana Zulum (Borno), and Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe) led calls for Tinubu’s re-election, praising his leadership and his support for the North’s past eight-year presidency under Muhammadu Buhari.
However, tensions flared when APC North-East Vice Chairman Mustapha Salihu concluded his speech by endorsing Tinubu as the party’s sole candidate for 2027 without any mention of Vice President Shettima, a prominent political figure from the region.
The omission sparked protests from some delegates who demanded that Shettima be explicitly included in the endorsement. Attempts by Governor Zulum to calm the crowd failed, and security operatives were eventually called in to restore order.
Later, APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje addressed the gathering, offering praise to both Tinubu and Shettima in a bid to >quell tensions.
This is not the first time the vice president has been left out of a formal endorsement. On May 22, 2025, all 22 APC governors publicly backed Tinubu’s second-term bid without acknowledging Shettima. The repeated omission has raised questions about internal dynamics within the ruling party.
Borno South Senator Ali Ndume has publicly distanced himself from the endorsement, warning against premature declarations. Drawing a historical parallel, he said, “I pity Tinubu. Former President Jonathan also received endorsements from 22 PDP governors in 2015 and he still lost.”
