Àttah Willies, Gombe
The North East consultative stakeholders meeting in Gombe on Sunday, expected to endorse President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the 2027 Presidential election ended in serious physical crisis over exclusion of Vice President Kashim Shettima in the joint ticket by some speakers.
The three North East All Progressives Congress (APC) State Governors, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, Babagana Umara Zulum of Borno State and the host, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, had all concluded their speeches endorsing the joint ticket of Kashim Shettima as vice president with Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president for the 2027 election.
Trouble, however, started when the National Vice Chairman of the APC in the North East zone, Comrade Mustapha Salihu, did not mention Kashim Shettima in the joint ticket even at the tail end of his speech. A majority of the delegates in the hall started shouting Shettima! Shettima!! Shettima!!!
Comrade Mustapha could barely finish his speech when he was physically confronted on stage by one of the diehard supporters of Shettima, causing commotion with chairs being thrown from one end of the hall to the other in the presence of dignitaries, party stalwarts and delegates, thus causing pandemonium in the entire hall of the International Conference Centre Gombe, venue of the meeting.
The commotion, which lasted for over twenty minutes could not be fully calmed even when the National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, concluded his speech without categorically mentioning Kashim Shettima in the joint ticket.
He appealed for more unity, stressing that the party is highly interested in the North East. According to him, the party got 1.2 million votes from the zone during the 2023 presidential election and is expecting over a triple of that in 2027.
At this point, it became clear that there is a grand design to replace Shettima in the Tinubu ticket by a faction of the party making many delegates to start shouting ‘no Shettima, no APC North East’. Some vowed to go with Atiku Abubakar if Tinubu or the party dump Shettima in 2027.
The commotion resulted in many dignitaries including past and present Governors, past and present ministers, Senators, House of Representative members, party stalwarts from the North East and beyond leaving the hall unceremoniously.
This crisis has established a serious crack within the APC in the North East, the home base of Vice President Shettima. Many believe it is also capable of causing many political alignments and realignments in the coming weeks or months ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Even outside the hall, the Police had to use teargas when tensions heightened forcing many to flee from the venue.
