A group known as Tinubu Next Level has criticised the Borno State governor, Babagana Zulum, for allegedly instigating the fiasco that greeted the All Progressives Congress (APC) North-East zonal meeting in Gombe on Sunday.
The group, in a press statement signed by its President, Alhaji Ango Zubair, on Wednesday, noted that the action of the Zulum-led dissidents brought “rude embarrassment to President Bola Tinubu and APC members across the country.”
The statement said further that it was basically the prerogative of the zonal branch of the party to endorse a candidate of its choice in any given election.
The statement reads in full: “We wish to register our utter displeasure to the actions of Governor Babagana Zulum in insisting that the zonal endorsement accorded to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu be extended to Vice President Kashim Shettima.
“We find such a stance as being rude and orchestrated to embarrass the President and every member of the APC in Nigeria and abroad.
“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.
“Asking the North-East zone of the party to force the President’s hands into appointing Shettima as his running mate is against the principles of democratic politicking in a presidential system of government.
“For emphasis, Vice President Kashim Shettima will not be the first Vice President to be dropped in a second term bid, and he would not be the last.
“What Governor Zulum has expressed by his action and his other supporters is that their loyalty is not to the President, but to Shettima. That is where we have a major disagreement with them.
“If the President so wishes, he could as well orchestrate an impeachment of Vice President Shettima. But President Tinubu, out of the magnanimity of his heart, has not travelled this route in kicking Shettima out.
“If the President has shown decorum in the case of managing the workings of his presidency, the faction led by Zulum has shown lack of it, and that is very disappointing,” the group noted.
It will be recalled that on Sunday, a caucus meeting of North-East APC members held a meeting to announce their endorsement of President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election. Their endorsement left out Vice President Shettima, who hails from the North-East zone.
The action sparked reaction from the pro-Shettima faction, which is led by the Borno State governor, Zulum.
The situation has since thrown the ruling party into a gale of controversy, fueling speculations that President Tinubu would not pick Shettima as running mate in 2027.
The controversy has thus opened the ruling APC to internal wrangling, with the pro-Shettima faction insisting that their support for President Tinubu’s election would be based on Vice President Shettima being on the ticket.
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