Former Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on political matters, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has criticized the president’s silence over persistent rumors suggesting plans to replace Vice President Kashim Shettima ahead of the 2027 election.
There have been growing speculations that President Tinubu may drop Shettima as his running mate in the next presidential race.
In response to the claims back in June, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga dismissed the reports as a “non-issue,” stating that President Tinubu would only select a running mate after formally accepting the All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination.
However, appearing on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television on Wednesday night, July 23, Baba-Ahmed—who resigned from his role in the Tinubu administration about three months ago, argued that the president should have personally addressed the matter to put the rumors to rest.
“I would be very curious to find out what it is that fuels all these stories about dropping him (Shettima). I think, somewhere along the line, to be honest, the President should have done something a long time ago,” he said.
“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.’
