Baba-Ahmed Slams Tinubu’s Silence on Shettima 2027 Running Mate Rumors

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed has faulted President Bola Tinubu for staying silent amid rising speculation that he may drop Vice-President Kashim Shettima ahead of the 2027 elections.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, the former presidential adviser said the president should have publicly debunked the rumour if it was truly baseless.

“If the stories about dropping the vice-president have no iota of truth, it would have taken just one thing — the president directly and personally saying, ‘Stop this nonsense,’” Baba-Ahmed said.

Concerns over Shettima’s future intensified after a recent APC stakeholders’ summit in Gombe turned chaotic when some party figures endorsed Tinubu for re-election without acknowledging Shettima.

Although presidential aide Bayo Onanuga downplayed the matter, saying Tinubu would only choose his 2027 running mate after the next APC convention, Baba-Ahmed insisted that the president’s silence is unsettling.

He argued that Tinubu’s personal assurance would have gone a long way in putting the matter to rest.

“It is worrying,” Baba-Ahmed said. “If this is what the president truly believes—that he stands with Shettima—then he should say it himself, emphatically.”

Baba-Ahmed, who recently resigned as Special Adviser on Political Matters to the Vice-President, also hinted that the rumour may be fueled by internal party politics or regional interests, as there has been talk of replacing Shettima with a northern Christian.