Congratulations Kashim Shettima

On Friday evening, 10 July 2026, the All Peoples Congress, APC, formally received the presidential nomination forms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and the Vice-Presidential nomination form of Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima, GCON, for the 2027 general elections, confirming Shettima’s retention as the party’s Vice-Presidential candidate. The National Chairman of the APC, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, received the nomination forms during a formal ceremony held at the Continental Hotel in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The forms were presented on behalf of President Tinubu by his Special Adviser on Political and Other Matters, Hon. Ibrahim Masari. The event was attended by APC dignitaries, including the Governors of Imo, Kebbi, Kaduna, Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa. Senior party leaders and other stakeholders were all present in the elaborate event. This has put to bed years of speculation and political rigmarole over the Tinubu/ Shettima ticket. The controversy and tension it has generated is multiples more than when Shettima clinched the running mate nomination at first in 2022.

Sen. Shettima, as far back as 2020, two years before the APC nomination process for the 2023 elections, was already an out-and-out campaigner for the emergence of President Tinubu as the APC’s flagbearer and eventual winner of the elections. It put him at loggerheads with officials and powers that be of the Buhari administration, who were averse to the idea of President Tinubu as the successor to the late President Buhari, may his soul rest in peace. One could actually call Kashim Shettima the leader of the Asiwaju for President campaign. He was vocal and vociferous in his mobilisation drive for the Tinubu ticket, and he led the activities of various support groups for President Tinubu. We tagged him the ‘Jagaban of Jagaban’s team ‘ for his activeness in the fight for the APC ticket. Despite the many hurdles and shenanigans of those in power, Shettima was one of those who believed in the struggle and believed it could come to fruition. The Jagaban himself recently confessed that he had lost hope, which is why his tirade, famously remembered as Emilokan, was so fierce! President Tinubu recently said that if not for the confidence reposed in him by former governor Masari, who was the Chairman of the North West Stakeholders of the APC, he would have lost hope and almost withdrawn from the race. But former gov. Masari implored him to be steadfast and have confidence in their support for him. The Jagaban was no quitter. The rest is history.

Shettima was named as President Tinubu’s running mate ahead of other stalwarts, such as former Governors Abdullahi Ganduje and Nasir El-Rufai. We from the northeast felt it was our turn too, as the immediate past President was from the northwest, and the northeast or the northcentral out to have a turn. It was also a no-brainer to have a muslim northerner on the ticket despite having a muslim as a presidential candidate. The numbers after the election justified the political calculus behind it. Chief MKO Abiola had won as a muslim candidate from the south and had beaten a muslim candidate from the north. Abiola defeated Tofa from Kano, and this must have set the tone for Asiwaju’s quest for the presidency. It is possible to win even as a muslim from the south, provided the north backed you with its predominantly muslim population. Of all the four candidates from the 2023 elections, only Peter Obi is a Christian, with Atiku, Kwankwaso and Tinubu all muslims. Cascading their results on religious lines still shows that the numbers are on the side of the polygamous north.

This further buttresses the fact that the nation’s voting population is muslim and largely northern. If politics is a game of numbers, then one must put one and one together to make two. You must have a muslim northerner on that ticket to make the numbers real and the victory tangible. Hence, the Tinubu/ Shettima ticket won the elections. It is still set to win the upcoming elections. The Christian community in Nigeria has perhaps come to terms with the fact that a muslim/ muslim ticket will not islamise them and neither will it disenfranchise them. In fact, MURIC, Muslim Rights Concern, is out in the open crying disenfranchisement over the ticket. That says a lot. In the future, however, if the muslim north is able to produce a Christian president or vice-president from the region, that remains to be seen, and a consensus has to be made to this effect by the political elite if it is to happen. It is possible, just the way the muslim president from the south emerged.

Well, having said that, we are perhaps over that debate of a muslim/ muslim ticket. Shettima has been nominated yet again, as Mr. President’s VP pick. Even if Shettima spent the better part of 3 years as VP second-guessing whether he would be replaced, it has been a blessing in disguise for him. It has not allowed him to commit the sins of every VP, nor has it got him ahead of himself. Shettima has been a good student of power and has remained one, refusing to graduate into what would constitute a nuisance to the government or to Mr President. He remained grateful, obedient and patriotic. He embraced his role with vigour, magnanimity and scholarship. He did not resort to fighting his detractors but decided to make his job worthwhile. Right from the onset, Mr President counted on him for the stabilisation of the National Assembly by insisting on a Christian Senate President, so that the first three citizens would not be all muslims.

That would appear to be skewed in favour of one religion, even if it isn’t. He has also played a huge role in getting some governors to decamp to the APC, like that of the almighty Kano. President Tinubu must have enjoyed working with him because he didn’t give him any trouble.

President Tinubu kept everyone guessing whether he would drop Shettima or not. Those working to secure the nomination did not rest; they worked tirelessly to secure the President’s commitment. Shettima, too, worked hard as a dedicated 2ic, burning the candle at both ends to make his boss happy. I must say a huge thank you to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR. Once again, he has shown that he rewards goodness with goodness, just as Qur’an 55 verse 60 says, “haljaza’ul ihsanu illal’ihsan”. Meaning… is the reward of goodness anything but goodness? I also pray that Sen. Shettima, the VP, will continue to give his all to Mr. President. I pray this nomination is another opportunity for him to prove his mettle and to serve his boss with even more energy, diligence and commitment.