ABUJA – A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prof. Haruna Yerima, has expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu will win the 2027 presidential election if he retains Vice President Kashim Shettima as his running mate.
Yerima, a former member of the House of Representatives, stated this in Abuja at the weekend while reacting to a call by the Northern Ethnic Nationality Forum, urging Tinubu to drop Shettima to avoid repeating a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
The group argued that Tinubu should select a Christian from Plateau, Benue, or Taraba State to douse fears of an alleged Islamisation agenda.
It warned that retaining a Muslim-Muslim ticket could give the opposition a strong campaign advantage.
Yerima, however, dismissed the suggestion as baseless.
“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 insinuations that an Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi ticket 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, the Northern Ethnic Nationality Forum, who urged President Tinubu to drop Senator Shettima and avoid repeating the Muslim-Muslim ticket,” Yerima said.
The APC chieftain added that the so-called Islamisation agenda had long been disproved by Tinubu’s administration, which he described as inclusive.
“In the last two years of President Bola Tinubu’s presidency, it has been clear that the APC administration is not tilted to any religious group. It is appalling why that faceless group is trying to resurrect a forgotten issue.
“The claim that the opposition would dethrone President Tinubu if he adopts Senator Shettima in 2027 is another fallacy without any shred of truth or evidence.”
According to him, Shettima was carefully chosen as running mate after due consideration of several factors.
“Any attempt to impose a running mate on President Tinubu would not only backfire, but would also be met with outright rejection by the president himself. President Tinubu is not a political neophyte that dubious politicians can manipulate under the guise of ethnic or religious sentiments,” he said.
Yerima cautioned against mixing religion with politics, stressing that issues of loyalty and competence should take precedence.
“Sen. Shettima has been diligently fulfilling the roles assigned to him by his principal with dedication, competence, and loyalty,” he added.
