The banner was already in place when Abdulkarim Lawan walked into the hall in Maiduguri, but it took only a moment for something unsettling to register. Stretched behind the podium at the North-East Zonal Public Hearing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was a large, carefully designed backdrop bearing the images of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, governors from the zone, and senior party figures. It was meant to project unity, continuity, and authority. Yet one conspicuous absence pierced the calm: the image of Vice President Kashim Shettima was nowhere to be found.
For Lawan, Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly and the longest-serving speaker in Nigeria’s legislative history, the omission was impossible to ignore. Shettima is not just the Vice President of Nigeria; he is a son of Borno, a former governor of the state, and the most senior APC figure from the North-East. In a region that has endured years of insurgency, political marginalisation, and sacrifice, his ascent to the vice presidency has long been regarded as both symbolic and substantive recognition.
When Lawan eventually rose to address the gathering, it quickly became clear that his intervention would stray from the scheduled constitutional amendment discussions. His voice carried irritation, disbelief, and a quiet accusation as he posed a question that instantly electrified the hall: why was the Vice President’s picture missing from the banner? The response was immediate and loud. Applause thundered through the venue, transforming what might have been dismissed as a graphic oversight into a moment heavy with political meaning.
DDM NEWS understands that, in Nigerian politics, symbols often speak louder than official statements. A missing photograph can signal more than negligence; it can hint at shifting loyalties, brewing rivalries, or deliberate repositioning. In Maiduguri, that single omission opened the floodgates to long-simmering suspicions within the ruling party.
This was not the first time such an exclusion had occurred. A similar incident at an APC event in Gombe State the previous year had reportedly degenerated into a heated confrontation that disrupted proceedings. But Maiduguri carried a different weight. This was Shettima’s political home, the epicentre of his rise, and the timing could not have been more sensitive. Across Nigeria’s political landscape, quiet calculations for the 2027 general election have already begun.
Within APC circles, a troubling speculation has gained momentum: that President Tinubu may consider dropping Vice President Shettima from the party’s next presidential ticket. At the heart of this rumour lies the renewed controversy surrounding the Muslim–Muslim ticket that propelled the APC to victory in 2023, coupled with external and internal pressures for religious rebalancing.
For months, these discussions existed largely in hushed conversations and anonymous briefings. The Maiduguri banner, however, appeared to give physical form to whispers that had previously lacked visible confirmation. To many party members, especially in the North-East, it felt less like coincidence and more like a message.
DDM NEWS reports that concern over this possibility has triggered intense debate within the party, with some senior figures warning that altering the Tinubu–Shettima equation could prove politically catastrophic. Abayomi Nurain Mumuni, an APC chieftain and security expert who served on the intelligence and security team of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council in 2023, has emerged as one of the most vocal voices urging caution.
Mumuni argues that replacing Shettima, particularly on religious grounds, would amount to a dangerous gamble. According to him, the political arithmetic of Nigeria’s north is far more complex than many strategists are willing to admit. While calls for religious inclusivity resonate in principle, he insists that the region currently lacks a Christian politician with the grassroots reach, political structure, and national appeal necessary to compensate for Shettima’s electoral value.
In Mumuni’s assessment, Shettima’s loyalty and consistency have been stabilising forces within the administration. He warns that sacrificing these qualities for symbolic balance could fracture internal cohesion, distract from governance, and weaken the APC’s standing ahead of 2027. For a party already facing economic discontent and rising opposition coordination, such internal disruption could be costly.
These concerns are shared widely across the North-East, where the idea of sidelining Shettima is increasingly interpreted as betrayal rather than strategy. The APC Youth Parliament has been particularly outspoken. Speaking in Bauchi, its chairman, Kabiru Garba Kobi, dismissed the rumours as reckless and divisive, cautioning that any attempt to replace the Vice President could cost President Tinubu massive support in the region.
Kobi described Shettima as the most unifying political figure in the North-East, a bridge between the presidency and a region that delivered critical votes in 2023. He warned against listening to what he termed political opportunists, individuals who neither contributed meaningfully to the party’s electoral victory nor demonstrated consistent loyalty. To the youth wing of the party, the speculation surrounding Shettima’s fate threatens to reopen regional wounds that the APC has spent years trying to heal.
DDM NEWS has also gathered that behind closed doors, discussions within the presidency have been complicated by growing foreign scrutiny, particularly from the United States, over Nigeria’s religious balance. Statements by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding alleged Christian persecution in Nigeria have amplified international attention on the issue, injecting an external dimension into what many party insiders insist should remain a domestic political decision.
Some APC figures counter that Nigeria’s security architecture already reflects religious diversity, pointing to appointments across the armed forces, intelligence agencies, and defence establishment. Others bristle at the notion that Nigeria’s electoral choices should be shaped by foreign expectations, arguing that sovereignty and political pragmatism must take precedence over external opinion.
This tension between domestic calculation and international perception has further muddied the waters. What might once have been a straightforward internal debate has become entangled with questions of image, diplomacy, and national identity.
Amid rumours that the North-Central zone is lobbying for a Christian vice-presidential candidate, the North-Central APC Forum has publicly stepped back. In a strong statement, the forum denied any interest in the vice-presidential slot, insisting that its long-term focus is on contesting the presidency in 2031. The group warned that removing Shettima would be a grave miscalculation, one that could shrink Tinubu’s vote base and hand the opposition a strategic advantage in 2027.
Public commentary has only intensified the storm. Veteran journalist and former presidential spokesperson Reuben Abati described the speculation as a disruptive political kite that could affect not only the APC’s fortunes but also the relationship between President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima as Nigeria inches toward another election cycle. Others have been less cautious in their assessments.
Some commentators claim that the decision to sideline Shettima has already been made, citing internal disagreements that allegedly surfaced within the administration about a year ago. Still others argue that the Muslim–Muslim ticket, once defended as pragmatic, will no longer be politically sustainable in 2027, regardless of past success.
Yet, at the centre of this gathering storm, Vice President Kashim Shettima has maintained a studied silence. He has not addressed the Maiduguri banner, the rumours of his replacement, or the conflicting narratives surrounding his political future. In Nigerian politics, silence is rarely meaningless. It can signal restraint, calculation, or quiet confidence. It can also precede confrontation.
DDM NEWS observes that what began as a missing photograph in Maiduguri has evolved into a broader test of loyalty, memory, and power within the APC. The party now stands at a crossroads. It must decide whether to preserve a familiar equation that delivered victory in 2023 or to recalibrate in response to pressure, perception, and fear.
As 2027 draws closer, the consequences of that choice will not be confined to banners and speeches. They will shape alliances, voter trust, and the very cohesion of the ruling party. Whether altering the Tinubu–Shettima partnership will save the APC or unravel it remains an open question. But one thing is certain: the storm has begun, and its outcome will define the party’s future.
