APC North-East meeting ends in chaos over Tinubu-Shettima endorsement

A high-power meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North-East, on Sunday, ended in chaos after key party leaders endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term while conspicuously omitting Vice-President Kashim Shettima, who is a prominent son of the region.

The volatile incident, which took place in Gombe State, fueled pre-existing speculations about a possible change in the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the next election cycle.

The controversy ignited when Mustapha Salihu, the party’s North-East Deputy Chairman, addressed the gathering of governors, ministers, and lawmakers, but failed to say what the gathering was expecting to hear from him.

He called for President Tinubu to be the party’s unopposed candidate but made no mention of Vice-President Shettima continuing on the ticket.

Delegates immediately reacted with fury, hurling insults, exchanging blows and threatening greater physical harm, which prompted security operatives to escort Salihu from the venue.

In an attempt to pacify the crowd, the party’s Deputy National Chairman Ali Bukar Dalori, quickly endorsed both Tinubu and Shettima for a second term.

However, the calm was short-lived.

The situation deteriorated further when Abdullahi Ganduje, the party Chairman, delivered his address and also endorsed President Tinubu alone, reigniting the anger among delegates.

The meeting ended abruptly as Ganduje was also whisked away under heavy security.

An insider source told BusinessDay that there had been widespread rumours about a potential shake-up of the APC’s 2027 ticket, which prompted the Borno delegation’s decision to be at the meeting.

“From recent happening in our great party, we dont want fold our arms, we learnt that Tinubu is planning to drops Shettima’s for someone in the northwest region. We can’t allow this to happen”, an APC source claimed.

He noted that the North-East Forum was widely expected to use the meeting to insist on Shettima’s retention.

This push from the region comes despite the party’s overall poor performance in the North-East during the last presidential election.

The APC only won in Borno, Shettima’s home State, a result some analysts attribute to the strong influence of the PDP’s Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who also hails from the region.

Meanwhile, the North East chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has officially endorsed the Tinubu/Kashim ticket for the 2027 Presidential election.

The endorsement was made on Sunday during the North East All Progressives Congress Consultative Meeting in Gombe, the Gombe State capital.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno, Mai-Mala Buni of Yobe, Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe and other top APC officials in the North-East were among thousands of party members that attended the meeting.

The forum noted that President Bola Tinubu and Kashim Shettima had transformed Nigeria in their short terms of leadership with their Renewed Hope Agenda.

They call on all Nigerians to rally behind a ticket that promises unity, progress and hope for the country.

While delivering his speech, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, noted that in the last two years, the Tinubu/Shettima-led Government had done a lot in the areas of health, education, youth and women empowerment, revenue generation, and improving the lives of citizens.