A leading northern elder and former political adviser to the presidency, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has expressed growing concern over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s silence on rumours that Vice-President Kashim Shettima may be dropped ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Legit.ng reports that speculation has intensified in political circles, suggesting that Shettima may be replaced with another northern candidate, possibly a Christian, as Tinubu prepares to seek a second term.

You would recall that the debate gained traction following an All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders’ summit in Gombe in June, where some speakers endorsed Tinubu without making any mention of Shettima.

This, however, has fueled further suspicions of a looming rift.

Speaking during a live interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Baba-Ahmed said the president should have unequivocally dismissed the rumour if it held no truth.

“I would be very curious to find out what it is that makes all these stories about dropping him (Shettima),” he said.

Furthermore, he noted that: “To be honest, the president should have done something a long time ago. 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’.”

On Saturday, April 5, Legit.ng reported that Bayo Onanuga, the president’s spokesperson, dismissed the matter as a “non-issue”, insisting that Tinubu would announce his running mate only after the APC’s next convention.

“In a presidential system, the candidate is nominated before selecting a running mate,” Onanuga explained, adding that there is no rift between the president and Shettima. However, Baba-Ahmed expressed belief that a public and personal response from Tinubu would have ended the controversy much earlier.

Baba-Ahmed, who recently resigned as Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of the Vice-President, said the matter goes beyond political speculation and may carry broader implications for the APC’s northern support base.

“It’s worrying; let me just say it is worrying. 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 said.

While the presidency has sought to wave off the controversy, silence from President Tinubu continues to raise eyebrows among political watchers, particularly in the North where Shettima remains an influential figure.

As the 2027 election draws closer, the issue of who emerges as Tinubu’s running mate, should he declare for a second term, may become a defining question in Nigeria’s political landscape.