There was uproar at a high-level All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders’ meeting in the North-East on Sunday, following the controversial omission of Vice-President Kashim Shettima’s name during the endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for a second term.
The meeting, held in Gombe State, was attended by prominent party figures from the region, including ministers, senators, members of the House of Representatives, and state governors.
Trouble began when the APC National Vice Chairman (North-East), Comrade Mustapha Salihu, in his address, threw his weight behind President Tinubu’s re-election bid, calling for the President to be returned unopposed as the party’s 2027 flagbearer.
However, Salihu made no mention of Vice-President Shettima, a native of Borno State, one of the APC’s strongholds in the North-East.
His omission sparked outrage among delegates, many of whom began to shout him down.
Some threatened physical assault, prompting security operatives to intervene and whisk him out of the venue.
The situation grew more tense when the party’s National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, also failed to acknowledge Shettima in his own endorsement speech, which lasted about 10 minutes.
Like Salihu, Ganduje faced angry chants from delegates and had to be escorted out under tight security.
In a bid to douse the tension, APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Bukar Dalori, quickly issued a clarifying statement, explicitly endorsing both Tinubu and Shettima for a second term.
Despite the damage control effort, the atmosphere remained charged, and the meeting ended abruptly, with several attendees expressing displeasure over what they described as a deliberate slight against the Vice-President.
Political observers say the incident underscores emerging cracks within the APC’s North-East bloc and could pose a serious challenge to party unity ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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