Tensions erupt in APC North-East over Tinubu’s 2027 endorsement, as party leaders snub Vice President Shettima, fuelling fears of internal cracks and political miscalculation

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North-East has been thrown into turmoil following a contentious endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term—an endorsement that pointedly excluded Vice President Kashim Shettima, a native of the region.

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The uproar broke out at a stakeholders’ meeting held in Gombe on Sunday, where the party’s National Vice Chairman for the zone, Mustapha Salihu, sparked a fierce backlash after throwing unreserved support behind President Tinubu as the APC’s sole candidate for 2027.

His failure to acknowledge Vice President Shettima, who hails from Borno State, ignited fury among delegates.

Eyewitnesses reported that emotions ran high, with several attendees threatening to physically attack Salihu before he was whisked out by security.

Tensions only escalated when the Deputy National Chairman, Bukar Dalori, attempted damage control by retroactively including Shettima in the endorsement, but the gesture was seen as too little, too late.

You endorsed a President and ignored his Vice from our zone—how do you expect unity?

According to Daily Trust, events spiralled further into chaos when APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje also gave a public nod to Tinubu’s second term—again, with no mention of Shettima.

Delegates erupted once more, and Ganduje, like Salihu, was hurriedly escorted out of the venue. The meeting ended in disarray.

The episode has stoked fresh questions over the party’s internal dynamics and whether the omission of the Vice President was a strategic misstep or a deeper political signal.

“You endorsed a President and ignored his Vice from our zone—how do you expect unity?” one angry delegate was quoted as saying.

While APC leaders have yet to issue an official clarification, the backlash in the North-East points to a growing discomfort with how the region’s interests are being handled ahead of the 2027 general elections.

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Whether this incident marks a temporary misunderstanding or a widening rift within the ruling party remains to be seen, but for now, the political temperature in the North-East is rising fast.