The National Vice Chairman (North-East) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mustapha Salihu, has broken his silence following a wave of backlash over his motion to endorse President Bola Tinubu for second term in office in 2027 without mentioning Vice President Kashim Shettima during the recent APC North-East Stakeholders’ Summit in Gombe State.
In an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ on Monday night, monitored by our correspondent, Salihu clarified that his comments were grossly misrepresented, particularly by sections of the media.
“I think this trouble is largely caused by the constant misinterpretation and ill-reporting by the media,” he said. “You should have played my speech fully or even read the last paragraph before the endorsement.”
According to Salihu, his endorsement of President Tinubu was preceded by commendations of the Vice President and other key appointments allocated to the North-East zone.
“The last paragraph of my speech before the endorsement was eulogising the Vice President, even recognising him as our son, whom we are very proud of. We stand by him. I even mentioned all the ministers and other juicy appointments given to North-East indigenes, and thanked Asiwaju for that before calling for his endorsement as the sole candidate of the APC,” he explained.
Salihu, who narrowly escaped a violent mob attack during the summit, stressed that the APC’s internal nomination process allows only one presidential candidate to emerge during the primaries and the candidate would later has the constitutional right to select a running mate.
“There is no such thing as a joint ticket during party primaries,” he stated. “Only the presidential candidate emerges, and it is entirely his prerogative to choose a running mate after he becomes the flagbearer.”
While acknowledging that party leaders and stakeholders are often consulted, Salihu was firm in his position that the final decision on a running mate remains solely with the presidential candidate.
“Even though the party and stakeholders may be consulted, constitutionally, it is solely the candidate’s right,” he said.
Addressing the chaos in Gombe, Salihu denied any intentional omission of VP Shettima from his speech and dismissed allegations of an internal rift between President Tinubu and the Vice President.
“Some people thrive on creating tension. We call them ‘crisis entrepreneurs,’ they manipulate situations like this to create confusion and benefit from it,” he said.
He urged party members and the public not to be swayed by what he described as “conspiracy theories” and politically motivated narratives spreading online.
“Party business isn’t conducted on the platforms of social media or pages of newspapers. We operate through the party office. These rumours are simply not reflective of the reality within the party,” Salihu stated.
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