Former presidential adviser and elder statesman Hakeem Baba-Ahmed said President Bola Tinubu should have personally addressed the speculation suggesting he plans to drop Vice President Kashim Shettima ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking during an interview on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, on Wednesday, Baba-Ahmed expressed concern over the narrative about a possible change in Tinubu’s running mate for the 2027 election.
“I would be very curious to find out what it is that makes all these stories about dropping him [Shettima],” Baba-Ahmed said. “I think, somewhere along the line, to be honest, the President should have done something a long time ago.”
He added that the rumours, which suggest Shettima might be replaced by another northern vice presidential candidate — potentially a Christian or someone from another region — could easily have been quashed by a clear and emphatic statement from the President himself.
“If all these stories about dropping the Vice President for somebody else, another Northern Vice President, maybe a Christian, maybe from somewhere else — have absolutely no iota of truth, it would have taken just one thing: the President directly and personally saying, ‘Stop this nonsense. I have confidence in my Vice President, I work well with him, I am happy with him, and I want this nonsense about me dropping him, now or in the future, to stop.
“I will take a decision on who my running mate is in 2027 when we get there. In the meantime, we have work to do. But he didn’t say that. His people didn’t say that,” he noted.
Although in June, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga dismissed the speculation, describing it a ‘non-issue,’ Baba-Ahmed maintained that silence on the matter from President Tinubu or his media team only fuels uncertainty and unnecessary political tension.
The former Presidential adviser warned that the lack of a direct response from the presidency was “worrying” and urged President Tinubu to clarify his position to avoid further distraction from governance.
“If what I have said is exactly what the president thinks, he should have said it. If he doesn’t say it the way I have, he should have found a way — but it should come from him. It should be direct and it must be emphatic,” he concluded.
