Amid growing speculation of a rift between President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ismaeel Ahmed, has firmly dismissed rumours of any plan to replace the Vice President for the 2027 presidential race.

Speaking on Channels Television?s prime time programme Politics Today, the former member of the APC Board of Trustees described the claims as ?malicious rumours? and insisted there was no substance to the reports suggesting discontent between the two top leaders.

?It?s (friction) not true. I know it very well. Who is ever in a 100 per cent relationship with anyone? There is trust between President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima. We are trying to create an issue where there is none,? Ahmed said on Tuesday.

?All of these, as far as I am concerned, are rumours?absolutely rumours. I am absolutely aware there is no discussion about substituting the Vice President. There is no discussion about the vice president being blocked.

?Those are all malicious rumours by people who probably don?t understand what?s going on in the presidency or don?t know how the presidency works.?

A combo image of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima

Ahmed urged party members and Nigerians to focus on governance rather than political distractions, adding that the administration still has a significant part of its mandate to deliver.

We have a mandate from the people for four years. Two years have passed; we have one year to the primaries and two to the general elections. For God?s sake, we are a government in office, a party in government. That means we are supposed to obey the rules of INEC at a minimum. Let?s focus on governing,? he stated.

?There are so many things we are doing right?let?s espouse them. We need to communicate with the people effectively. That should be the focus of the party and the government. Anything other than that is a distraction.?

The comments come in the wake of Sunday?s APC North-East summit in Gombe, which ended in commotion after Mustapha Salihu, the party?s National Vice Chairman (North-East), endorsed President Tinubu for a second term ?without mentioning Vice President Shettima.

Addressing the controversy during the show, Ahmed clarified that the endorsement did not signal internal friction but reflected APC traditions and the broader structure of national politics.

?We have a culture in the APC, and that culture is that the sitting president is not challenged; he is going to have his second-term ticket if he wants it,? the chieftain explained.

?The drama that happened at the APC North-East Summit was too melodramatic. Why are we endorsing a president that doesn?t need it? Tinubu doesn?t need endorsement from his own political party. It is a given that he is going to be our candidate in 2027.?

According to him, such endorsements amount to ?orchestrated sycophancy. As far as I am concerned, there shouldn?t be any endorsements again?.

Speaking further, Ahmed cautioned against prematurely treating political opponents as threats, noting that the party?s energy should be invested in governance, not campaign strategy.

?APC is not scared of any opposition? The President and Vice President need to move around states to communicate with the people,? he said.

?That?s why I said?why are we doing all this? Who is chasing us? Why are we running? Why are we responding to an opposition that is not even yet an opposition??

Ahmed added, ?I know the President well enough to say he encourages competition. He does not run away from it. He?s not scared of it at all. I understand that the party needs to rile up the base and get us moving in one direction?and there will be time for that. But right now is not the time for a campaign.

?We cannot, as a government, be responding to opposition. I think we should just take it easy, focus on governance, and drill down on what the President is doing.?

Meanwhile, the embroiled vice chairman, Salihu, spoke on Monday?s edition of the same programme and dismissed insinuations of Shettima?s marginalisation as the work of ?conflict entrepreneurs.?

He said, ?The administration of a party is not run on social media, newspapers, or television. It?s handled internally.?

?These kinds of rumours are inevitable in every administration?people will always try to suggest friction between the principal and the Vice. It?s what some insecure politicians thrive on. But if you?re secure in yourself, you shouldn?t be bothered by such noise.

?Anybody saying there?s discontent (in the North-east) is simply wrong. We did what the law permits?mentioning and praising our son. Other zones didn?t even have that obligation.

?We don?t have a vice-presidential ticket to offer; there?s only one ticket?President. Endorsing Tinubu with conditions would have been inappropriate. Suggesting a running mate for the 2027 election at this stage is like putting the cart before the horse,? Salihu stated. (Channels TV)

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