A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former federal lawmaker, Haruna Yerima, has declared that President Bola Tinubu would secure victory in the 2027 presidential election if he retains Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate.
Yerima made the statement on Saturday in Abuja while responding to calls by the Northern Ethnic Nationality Forum urging President Tinubu to replace Mr Shettima and avoid fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
According to the forum, picking a Christian from Plateau, Benue, or Taraba State would help counter fears of an alleged Islamisation agenda.
The group warned that keeping the current ticket could give opposition parties an easy campaign tool.
But Yerima in the statement, dismissed these concerns.
“The claim that the APC may lose the 2027 presidential elections if President Bola Tinubu adopts Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate is insane and unfounded,” he said.
He described suggestions that an Atiku Abubakar–Peter Obi alliance could defeat Tinubu and Shettima as “a jaundiced and amateur political permutation without any empirical backing.”
“We dismiss this statement by one Dominic Alancha of a faceless organisation, Northern Ethnic Nationality Forum, who urged President Tinubu to drop Sen. Shettima and avoid repeating the Muslim-Muslim ticket,” he added.
According to him, fears of an Islamisation agenda have already been addressed by the administration’s policies of inclusion.
“In the last two years of President Bola Tinubu’s presidency, all doubting Thomases that the APC administration is not tilted to any religious group. It is appalling why that faceless group is trying to reincarnate a forgotten issue,” he said.
Yerima insisted that the choice of Mr Shettima was carefully considered and cannot be imposed upon.
“Vice President Kashim Shettima was chosen by President Bola Tinubu after thorough consideration of various factors. Any attempt to impose a running mate on President Tinubu would not only backfire but would be met by outright rejection by the president himself.
“President Tinubu is not a political neophyte that some dubious politicians would hide under a mushroom ethnic group to push for an unsaleable agenda.”
Yerima warned against injecting religion into politics.“It is puzzling that some people are driving faith-based sentiments on issues that are strictly loyalty and competence-based,” he said, praising Mr Shettima’s performance.
“Sen. Shettima has been diligently fulfilling the roles assigned to him by his principal with all diligence, competence, and dedication”.