Journalist Jafaar Jafaar has advised President Bola Tinubu to look beyond Vice President Kashim Shettima in his choice for a running mate in 2027.

According to him, Shettima lacks the popularity Tinubu needs to garner votes in the North East region where the VP hails from.

This was as he revealed how Shettima failed to deliver the zone to the APC in the 2023 presidential election.

He wrote on X, "I respect Vice President Kashim Shettima for being self-effacing and kind to people. Keeping Kashim’s personal qualities aside, I do not think the political odds will favour him in 2027.

"The North East failed to introspect before venting anger over ‘Kashim-less’ endorsement of Tinubu. What did the zone bring to the APC table in the last election? Shettima as Tinubu’s vice presidential candidate in the last election was a child of circumstance. Had the PDP fielded a candidate from, say North West in 2023, Tinubu would have picked his running-mate from the zone. Kashim was not picked because he was kind or popular. He was picked because he was a Muslim from the major opposition candidate’s zone.

"In truth, both Tinubu and Shettima did not perform well in their states of origin. While the Lagos boy lost his state to Peter Obi, Shettima’s performance was subpar in his state. Forget the widely known fact that Atiku was robbed of victory in Borno State, but even at that Kashim’s performance was not colorful. In 2019 election, Shettima delivered Borno to APC, with President Buhari polling 836,496 against Atiku’s 71,788 votes. But in 2023 (with Shettima on the presidential ticket), APC “scored” only 252,282 votes in Borno State. In the same 2023 election, Tinubu won only one state (Borno) in the North East; two states (Jigawa and Zamfara) in the North West, but FOUR states (Niger, Kogi, Benue and Kwara) in the North Central. The North Central stakeholders should have been the ones crying over marginalization.

"Personally, I want Tinubu to look beyond North East’s dismal performance in 2023 to pick Shettima again – at least on compassionate grounds."

ASA