2027: President’s dilemma as APC chieftain warns against altering Tinubu/Shettima ticket

*When they boast nobody can defeat Tinubu in 2027, don’t fault them…but that plotted rigging is dead on arrival – Respondent 

*Citing Asari-Dokubo on issue of religion, explanation given on why Tinubu’s re-election is impossible 

By KEMI KASUMU

“When you hear them say nobody can defeat Tinubu in 2027, don’t fault them. They cannot be that boasting without having any assurance. And the assurance is ‘Look at it, we have the iNEC, the judiciary, the police, the military and court just like we have major media in the pocket. Now we have 31 state governors and are talking to religious leaders and traditional rulers. If we rig elections in this situation, who can change prove that we did?’ This is their plan but the plan DOA – dead on arrival,” he said.

Professor Haruna Yerima, a prominent All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, has cautioned the party against altering the Tinubu/Shettima presidential ticket for the 2027 general elections.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday January 25, 2026, Yerima warned that attempts to change the current ticket could undermine the party’s prospects in the next election.

“The same elements who opposed the Tinubu/Shettima ticket in 2023 are now pushing for a change, but tampering with the ticket would be politically disastrous for the APC in 2027,” he said.

He described proposals to impose a Christian candidate from the North-Central or North-West as both short-sighted and politically naive, noting that these regions have already been adequately represented in federal appointments.

Yerima highlighted the current federal positions held by individuals from the North-Central and North-West, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Minister of Defence, APC National Chairman, INEC Chairman, NNPCL Group CEO, and the Chief of Army Staff.

He also dismissed claims that international figures, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, influence Nigeria’s vice-presidential selections, calling such narratives the work of “political jobbers and fifth columnists.”

Praising Vice President Kashim Shettima, Yerima described him as loyal, competent, and effective, with a strong political record.

His comments follow concerns raised by Borno State House of Assembly Speaker Abdulkarim Lawan over Shettima’s exclusion from party banners during a recent APC stakeholders’ meeting in Maiduguri, amid speculation about potential replacements for the vice-presidential slot.

Reports in recent times have revealed that activities of verified members of APC and supporters of Bola Tinubu on social media showed that the president was up in battle against the popularly Muslim North by staging a Christian Agenda that, according to them, will ensure his 2027 election victory without the votes from the North.

In the meantime, Tinubu is now said to be in dilemma as it is becoming clearer to him that whatever form of arrangement or agenda he aligns with, 2027 is not sure for him.

According a source close to decision making in the North, “If Bola Tinubu presents a Muslim-Christian ticket, he will lose because the North will not vote for a Tinubu paired ticket featuring a Northerner other than a Hausa-Fulani/Kanuri and who must be a Muslim. This is because a Tinubu with for instance Dogara or Kukah will mean a Nigeria ruled completely by Christian government. How do you explain a Muslim presidency that sees passports done for Nigerians using Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) centres across the United Kingdom? Do you think we have forgotten that report which the government could not deny?

“That is when you still had a Muslim Northerner with a man the South West Muslims gave to the North as a Muslim. When that South’s Tinubu now pairs with Northern Christian, you can imagine what the fate of Muslims and Islam will become in Nigeria, where the major religious group that is hateful towards Muslims is that of the Christians especially the Christians of Northern Nigeria.

“When you listen to Asari-Dokubo, you will understand better. He said the Christians are the ones that hate Muslims and that Muslims don’t hate Christians. He threw that challenge for those who claim Muslims hating Christians in Northern Nigeria to prove it and then asked, much as they claim, are there no churches in the North with Christians practicing their religion and going to school and doing business without hinderance anywhere in the North up to the villages?

“Go to the South even in South West, that is where you have situation where Muslims are not wanted for employment, in schools, and even to build mosques except it is like togue-of-war. In such a country of much religious hypocrisy, you cannot expect the North to vote for a ticket that present a candidate among them who is a Christian. This will be a dilemma for Tinubu in 2027 especially with the many failures recorded under his government and only his fellow Yoruba traditional rulers and even Muslim Yoruba see him as a performer while other Nigerians don’t,” he said.

A respondent, who spoke under condition of anonymity while r sounding to question on Yerima’s statement, explained how Tinubu untended and his camo plans to win the election but expressed confidence the plan cannot fly.

“When you hear them say nobody can defeat Tinubu in 2027, don’t fault them. They cannot be that boasting without having any assurance. And the assurance is ‘Look at it, we have the iNEC, the judiciary, the police, the military and court just like we have major media in the pocket. Now we have 31 state governors and are talking to religious leaders and traditional rulers. If we rig elections in this situation, who can change prove that we did?’ This is their plan but the plan DOA – dead on arrival,” he said.