Vice President Kashim Shettima has said internal divisions within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) worry him more than opposition figures Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Shettima spoke on Saturday in Abuja at the unveiling of the campaign headquarters of Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A), a northern coalition supporting the re-election of President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Shettima, where the group’s campaign structure was formally inaugurated.
“Honestly, I am not afraid of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I am not afraid of a diminished Peter Obi. But I am more afraid of internal contradictions within our household. If we unite as a people, as a family, we will conquer,” he said.
The Vice President warned northern political leaders against supporting the presidential campaign while undermining APC governors contesting at the state level.
“There is no point in championing the cause of the presidential election and then undermining the governor in the gubernatorial election. Honestly, it will not go down well with the system,” he said.
He urged party members to rally behind APC governors, National Assembly members and President Tinubu to strengthen the party ahead of the next elections.
“Let’s rally round our governors. Let’s rally round our members of the National Assembly. Let’s rally round President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and see to the victory in the next round of elections,” he added.
Shettima expressed confidence in the North’s support for the ruling party, saying the region had already made its position clear.
“By now, I believe the North has spoken. We have spoken with a resounding voice and unmistakable conviction. From Adamawa to Zamfara, from Borno to Niger, we have spoken,” he said.
He also reminded party members that the election was approaching, stressing the need to seek voters’ support while acknowledging the challenges facing Nigerians.
“In less than 100 days, Nigerians will return to the polls. Democracy requires us to seek their confidence again, with humility about the work outstanding and conviction about the cause we have chosen,” he said.
On former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Shettima urged APC members to challenge him respectfully.
“Go and perform. Go and defeat Baba Atiku. Defeat him respectfully,” he said.
The Vice President also highlighted the party’s organisational strength, citing its officials across the country’s 176,845 polling units.
According to him, the APC has 361,045 officials from ward to local government levels, a structure he said would enable the party to match every polling unit with two officials.
“Politics is still local,” Shettima said, adding that he had directed the Borno State governor to compile a list of political appointees from the state down to the local government level.
He said the appointees would be assessed based on their political performance in their polling units, wards and local government areas.
On the APC’s position in the North, Shettima claimed that 18 of the region’s 19 states were controlled by the party.
He also said 15 of the 18 members of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) from Kano in the House of Representatives had defected to the APC, adding that the Kano State governor was also aligned with the ruling party.
Despite expressing confidence in the APC’s political structure, Shettima acknowledged the economic difficulties confronting Nigerians and urged the government to remain attentive to their concerns.
“Every household struggling to make ends meet reminds us how much remains to be done,” he said.
“We lose our hearing when applause becomes our only source of information.”
Defending the Tinubu administration’s economic record, the Vice President said the President inherited a weak economy when he assumed office.
“When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed the mantle of leadership in this country, what we had in our foreign reserves was a country with 3.9 billion dollars, barely enough to import oil for one month. And our Ways and Means expenditure was over N27 trillion.
“Nigeria was on the road to Caracas. The economy was teetering on the brink of collapse. He literally saved the nation,” Shettima said.
He further claimed that Nigeria’s foreign reserves had risen to about $58.9 billion, describing the figure as a significant improvement.
Shettima assured northern residents that the region had nothing to fear from a second Tinubu term, insisting that the President had its interests at heart.
“For the North, we have absolutely nothing to fear in a Tinubu second term. He has the North at heart,” he said.
The APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, also called for Tinubu’s re-election, moving a motion at the event for the President to secure a second term.
“Today is a time for us to renew a mandate that was largely supported by the North, and the North again will largely support the return of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term,” Yilwatda said.
He cited federal road projects in the region, including the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano and Kano-Maiduguri highways, as examples of the administration’s infrastructure investments.
The Director-General of A4A and former Jigawa State governor, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, said the coalition’s campaign headquarters was located at No. 4 Port Harcourt Street, Area 11, Garki, Abuja.
He described the facility as “the biggest campaign office anywhere in the country” and said it represented the coalition’s commitment to the re-election campaign.
“Let it be understood that this building is more than just a campaign office. It is a message. It says that Arewa is serious,” Badaru said.
He added that the coalition would conduct “a campaign that is disciplined, peaceful and issue-based”, taking its message to markets, farms, campuses, mosques and churches.
