Two days after he narrowly escaped a violent mob attack at the All Progressives Congress North-East stakeholders’ meeting in Gombe, the party’s National Vice Chairman (North-East), Mustapha Salihu, on Monday, said President Bola Tinubu has the constitutional authority to choose his running mate for the 2027 elections.
Salihu, who was attacked on stage during the event after allegedly omitting Vice President Kashim Shettima’s name in his endorsement speech for Tinubu, spoke during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“There is no such thing as a joint ticket during party primaries.
“Only the presidential candidate emerges, and it is entirely his prerogative to choose a running mate — after he becomes the flagbearer,” Salihu said.
He emphasised that while party consultations are typical, the final decision remains solely with the presidential candidate.
“Even though the party and stakeholders may be consulted, constitutionally, it is solely the candidate’s right.
Addressing the controversy that spiralled into Sunday’s chaos, Salihu denied deliberately excluding Shettima from his speech.
He claimed that the portion praising the Vice President was delivered before the incident.
“The last paragraph of my speech before the fracas was dedicated to eulogising Kashim Shettima.
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“I said he is our son and that we in the North-East stand solidly behind him,” Salihu said.
He also praised other key government appointees from the North-East, including the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and thanked Tinubu for their appointments.
“It’s on record. I spoke about all of them before endorsing Asiwaju as the party’s sole candidate,” he added.
Salihu dismissed speculations of a rift between Tinubu and Shettima, accusing political opportunists of fueling discord within the party.
“Some people thrive on creating tension. We call them ‘crisis entrepreneurs’ — they manipulate situations like this to create confusion and benefit from it.
“These rumours are inevitable, especially as elections draw near,” he said.
He urged party members and the public not to fall for what he called “conspiracy theories” circulating on social media.
“Party business isn’t conducted on the platforms of social media or pages of newspapers. We operate through the party office. These rumours are simply not reflective of the reality within the party,” he stated.
