Tension flared at the All Progressives Congress North-East stakeholders’ meeting in Gombe on Sunday as delegates threatened to back Atiku Abubakar if Kashim Shettima is removed from President Bola Tinubu’s ticket in 2027.
A meeting at the International Conference Centre intended to show support for Mr. Tinubu’s re-election bid descended into chaos when Zonal Vice Chairman Mustapha Salihu failed to mention Shettima in his speech.
Video footage captured a party member throwing a chair at Salihu as he fled the stage, while another delegate hurled a plastic bucket in protest.
Salihu told the audience, “Given the government’s numerous appointments and responsibilities, we have every reason to support this party. I’d like the zonal executive committee members to stand for a formal endorsement, as they hold the ticket. We aim to reaffirm and adopt the national working committee’s earlier endorsement of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the sole candidate for the 2027 election.”
A chorus of ‘Shettima! Shettima! Shettima!’ erupted, prompting swift intervention by security operatives, after the Vice President’s omission. A Borno delegate fumed, ‘It’s an insult to the entire region that our own son, the Vice President, wasn’t even mentioned.’
Another delegate viewed it as ‘a calculated attempt to sideline Shettima,’ vowing, ‘we will resist it with everything we have.’
Prior to the fracas, Yobe, Borno, and Gombe governors Mai Mala Buni, Babagana Zulum, and Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya had each expressed support for the Tinubu-Shettima ticket. Governor Yahaya stated, “The North-East is fully behind the President and the Vice President, as their leadership has brought renewed hope to this region.”
Despite the show of unity, APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje’s closing remarks did not alleviate the anger, with many delegates chanting “No Shettima, no APC in the North-East” after he acknowledged Shettima as Vice President, stating “we are proud of his deputy.”
A chaotic scene unfolded as dignitaries fled the meeting amid shouting and chair-throwing, while police outside used tear gas to disperse hundreds of agitated party supporters, prompting an eyewitness, James Abass, to warn of deep internal divisions within the ruling party that could trigger mass defections or the rise of a rival movement.
