The race for the 2027 vice-presidential ticket is heating up as Kashim Shettima has been renominated. Tajudeen Abbas has extended his congratulations to Shettima on this significant political development.
The announcement follows the formal confirmation by the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leadership just a day prior. On Friday, the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) received the nomination forms of both Tinubu and Shettima from Ibrahim Masari, the President’s Special Adviser on Political Matters.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas hails Shettima as a trusted partner
The prompt submission met the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deadline, locking in the ruling party’s ticket well ahead of the 2027 polls. Abbas noted that Vice President Kashim Shettima has remained a “dependable deputy and trusted partner” since the administration was inaugurated in May 2023.
For Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, the decision to maintain the status quo is evidence of “extraordinary leadership and astute political judgment” by the President. In his congratulatory message, he emphasized that Senator Kashim Shettima’s tenure as Vice President has allowed the administration to remain focused on its goal to improve the lives of citizens.
The Speaker’s confidence is so high that he declared the All Progressives Congress faces criticism over alleged substitution talk in previous cycles will not haunt this campaign, predicting the party would “easily cruise to victory” in the January elections.
This legislative endorsement is not just a polite formality. In Nigeria’s political history, a unified executive-legislative front is a rare and powerful weapon. By publicly praising the Vice President’s “loyalty and dependability,” Abbas is attempting to project a sense of stability to a public often weary of political infighting.
He further urged party members to intensify grassroots mobilization to ensure the APC expands its support base into every community nationwide.
The historical lesson of presidential loyalty in Nigeria
History suggests that Nigerian presidencies fail when the gap between the number one and number two becomes a canyon. One needs only to look at the 1980s or the early 2000s to see how internal friction stalls development.
By sticking with Senator Kashim Shettima, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is choosing to avoid the “deputy trap” that swallowed previous administrations. The re-nomination signals that the current leadership believes their “Renewed Hope Agenda” requires the same two pairs of hands to see it through to completion.
The North-East APC Youth Critical Stakeholders Forum, led by Coordinating Chairman Haruna Sardauna, echoed this sentiment, calling Shettima the most “result-oriented Vice President” in the nation’s history. They pointed to specific infrastructural investments and a “new sense of belonging” in the Northeast as proof that the ticket works for the region.
This regional approval is critical, as Shettima provides the essential northern anchor for Tinubu’s southern-led administration.
Drawing lines from economic reforms of the past
Modern Nigeria is currently navigating economic waters strangely similar to the mid-1980s. When the Babangida administration introduced structural reforms in 1986, it triggered a decade of currency volatility. Today, as the International Monetary Fund lowers 2026 world economic outlook warnings, the Tinubu government is fighting a similar battle with subsidies and exchange rates.
Maintaining the same leadership team suggests the APC believes continuity in personnel will lead to continuity in fiscal results.
Vice President Kashim Shettima himself recently acknowledged the difficulty of these decisions at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja. He described the President as a “fine sailor” who has steered the ship through turbulent waters. The renomination is, in his eyes, a mandate to continue the “difficult but necessary” work of stabilizing the Nigerian economy despite the noise of political opposition.
Strategic implications for the 2027 general election
The timing of this confirmation is a calculated move to prevent a power vacuum. By submitting the nomination forms by the first week of May 2026, the APC has effectively silenced any internal rivals during the INEC submission window.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas’s early endorsement further cements this, ensuring that the legislative wing remains a cooperative partner for the remaining duration of the current term. He argued that Tinubu’s re-election is all but guaranteed because the President “has done very well for this country.”
Despite these claims of success, the administration remains under heavy fire from figures like Peter Obi. While the Nigerian Presidency rejects Peter Obi’s claim of life threats and other accusations, the APC is doubling down on its track record.
The Speaker’s call for grassroots mobilization reflects the reality that the 2027 election will not be won in Abuja, but in the markets and villages where the impact of economic reform is felt most acutely. The historical pattern is clear: a party that fails to sell its history rarely gets to write its future.
By linking the 2027 ticket to the promises of 2023, the APC is betting that Nigerians will choose the stability of the known over the uncertainty of the new.
