2027: Tinubu should have addressed rumors of ditching VP Shettima – Baba-Ahmed
Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Tinubu, has criticized the president for not personally addressing persistent rumors about plans to drop Vice President Kashim Shettima ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speculations have been circulating that Shettima may not return as Tinubu’s running mate. Although presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga dismissed the claims in June as a “non-issue,” stating Tinubu would decide only after securing the APC nomination, Baba-Ahmed believes the president’s direct clarification was necessary to end the controversy.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels TV, Baba-Ahmed argued that silence on such sensitive issues fuels unnecessary political tension.
“I would be very curious to find out what it is that fuels all these stories about dropping him (Shettima). I think, somewhere along the line, to be honest, the President should have done something a long time ago,” he said.
“If all these stories about dropping the Vice President for somebody else, another Northern Vice President, maybe a Christian, maybe from somewhere else — have absolutely no iota of truth, it would have taken just one thing: the President directly and personally saying, ‘Stop this nonsense. I have confidence in my Vice President, I work well with him, I am happy with him, and I want this nonsense about me dropping him, now or in the future, to stop.’
