A major internal crisis is brewing within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) following a chaotic North-East zonal meeting on Sunday, with a prominent group accusing Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum of masterminding a fracas over Vice President Kashim Shettima’s 2027 presidential ticket ambitions.
The group, Tinubu Next Level, condemned Governor Zulum’s actions, asserting they brought “rude embarrassment to President Bola Tinubu and APC members across the country.”
In a press statement signed by its President, Alhaji Ango Zubair, the group expressed “utter displeasure” at Zulum’s insistence that the zone’s endorsement of President Tinubu for re-election in 2027 must explicitly include Vice President Shettima.
“It is within our rights to endorse the President for re-election, such as it is the right of the President to make the pick of his running mate in an election,” the statement declared.
It labelled Zulum’s stance as “against the principles of democratic politicking in a presidential system of government,” suggesting it was orchestrated to “force the President’s hands.”
Strikingly, the group went further, stating, “What Governor Zulum has expressed by his action and his other supporters is that their loyalty is not to the President, but to Shettima.”
They even provocatively noted, “If the President so wishes, he could as well orchestrate an impeachment of Vice President Shettima.”
Background
The fracas at the APC North-East zonal meeting underscores a significant and potentially destabilising power struggle within the ruling party, particularly as focus shifts to the 2027 general elections.
The initial endorsement by the North-East caucus of President Tinubu, which conspicuously omitted Vice President Shettima (despite his regional origin), appears to have been the catalyst.
This omission sparked immediate and forceful resistance from a pro-Shettima faction, allegedly led by Governor Zulum, highlighting deep-seated tensions over the Vice President’s political future.
The incident suggests a challenge to President Tinubu’s perceived absolute control over party affairs and his choice of running mate, exposing a rift between those loyal solely to the President and those whose allegiance is tied to specific individuals within the administration.
