The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Ajibola Basiru, has clarified that the question of who will serve as President Bola Tinubu’s running mate for the 2027 presidential election is premature and has not been broached within the party.
Basiru made the statement during an interview on Channels Television on Friday, where he reaffirmed that the APC has overwhelmingly endorsed President Tinubu as its presidential flagbearer for the 2027 elections.
He noted that while Tinubu’s candidacy has been solidified, discussions about a running mate will only take place closer to the party’s convention, typically held about a year before the general election.
“As far as we are concerned, the national summit held in the Presidential Villa has endorsed Mr President based on his track record and a large spectrum of stakeholders in our party have also overwhelmingly given endorsement to Mr President,” Basiru said.
“The question of running mate is not yet onboard and nobody has come to say that the president has made any adverse decision as regards the present vice president.”
Addressing the controversy that unfolded during the APC Northeast stakeholders’ meeting on Sunday, June 15, in Gombe State—where Tinubu was endorsed without any reference to Vice President Kashim Shettima—Basiru downplayed the incident, labeling it a non-issue.
The APC scribe, who was present at the Gombe meeting, emphasized that differing opinions are a natural part of democratic discourse and that the matter of a vice-presidential candidate would only be relevant after the party formally nominates its presidential candidate.
“People in a democratic setting are born to have different opinions,” he said.
“As far as I am concerned, there was no issue. I was physically present in Gombe State. After the summit, we had a reception at the Government House. Some people in the North East felt that it suffice to give endorsement to the president and then the president will be in a position to decide who would be his running mate in 2027.
“Some other people are of the view that it is also important that since the summit is being held in the North East, the vice president, coming from the North-East, should equally have an endorsement. What I know is that even at the national convention where a candidate for the presidential election will emerge, it is only the presidential candidate that will emerge at the convention. The running mate issue will be done after that. As far as our party is concerned, we have not made any statement or got ourselves involved in the politics of the North-East,” Basiru added.
