Vice President Kashim Shettima has said internal divisions within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) concern him more than opposition figures Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Shettima spoke on Saturday in Abuja during the unveiling of the campaign headquarters of Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A), a northern coalition supporting the re-election of President Bola Tinubu and the Vice President.
“Honestly, I am not afraid of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I am not afraid of a diminished Peter Obi. But I am more afraid of internal contradictions within our household,” he said, urging party members to unite.
He warned northern political leaders against supporting the presidential campaign while undermining APC governors in their respective states.
“There is no point in championing the cause of the presidential election and then undermining the governor in the gubernatorial election,” he said.
Shettima urged party members to support Tinubu, APC governors and members of the National Assembly, stressing that political success depended on unity at all levels.
The Vice President said the APC had enough personnel to cover polling units nationwide, citing 176,845 polling units and 361,045 party officials.
He also called on political appointees to demonstrate their influence in their communities, saying he had asked the Borno State governor to compile a list of appointees from the state down to local government level.
According to Shettima, their performance should be assessed at their polling units, wards and local government areas.
He claimed that 18 of the North’s 19 states were governed by the APC and said 15 of the 18 Kano members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) had defected to the ruling party.
Shettima also urged party members to defeat former Vice President Atiku Abubakar respectfully.
Shettima acknowledged that many Nigerian households were struggling to meet their basic needs, saying the government must remain aware of the challenges facing citizens.
“Every household struggling to make ends meet reminds us how much remains to be done,” he said.
However, he defended Tinubu’s economic policies, arguing that the President inherited a weak economy with foreign reserves of $3.9 billion and Ways and Means expenditure exceeding ₦27 trillion.
Shettima said Nigeria’s economy had been close to collapse when Tinubu assumed office and claimed that foreign reserves had since risen to about $58.9 billion.
He assured northern Nigerians that the region would benefit from a second Tinubu administration.
“For the North, we have absolutely nothing to fear in a Tinubu second term. He has the North at heart,” he said.
APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda called for the renewal of Tinubu’s mandate, saying the North had largely supported the President in the previous election and would support his return.
Yilwatda cited federal road projects in the region, including the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and Kano-Maiduguri highways, as examples of the administration’s investments.
Meanwhile, A4A Director-General and former Jigawa State Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar said the coalition’s campaign headquarters was located at No. 4 Port Harcourt Street, Area 11, Garki, Abuja.
Badaru described the facility as a symbol of the coalition’s commitment to the campaign and pledged to run a disciplined, peaceful and issue-based mobilisation effort.
He said the group would take its message to markets, farms, campuses, mosques and churches as it seeks support for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket.
