Ex-presidential aide Baba-Ahmed urges Tinubu to publicly dismiss rumours of dropping Shettima.
He says the president’s silence fuels confusion ahead of the 2027 general election cycle.
Former presidential adviser Hakeem Baba-Ahmed has urged President Bola Tinubu to directly address and dismiss growing speculation that he may replace Vice-President Kashim Shettima ahead of the 2027 general election.
Speculations have intensified in recent months, especially after an All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders’ summit in Gombe turned controversial when several speakers endorsed Tinubu for a second term without making any mention of Shettima.
While the presidency has labelled the rumours as baseless, Baba-Ahmed believes a direct statement from the president himself would have put the matter to rest.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, Baba-Ahmed said Tinubu’s continued silence has created unnecessary unease and left room for misinterpretation.
“I really wonder why this talk of dropping Shettima continues to circulate,” he said. “Honestly, the president should have stepped in long ago.”
“If all these talks about replacing the vice-president with someone else perhaps a northern Christian or someone from another region are completely untrue, it wouldn’t take much to end them. Just one clear statement from the president would’ve done it.”
He added: “All he needed to say is, ‘I trust my vice-president, we work well together, and I have no plans to drop him.’ Something direct, from him not just aides or spokesmen. But that hasn’t happened.”
Although presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga has dismissed the claims as a “non-issue,” saying Tinubu will make his running mate decision after the party’s next convention, Baba-Ahmed insists that the president’s own voice is needed to reassure the public.
“The silence is unsettling. It’s disturbing,” he said.
“If what I’ve said reflects what the president actually believes, then he should have said it clearly and publicly. If not in these exact words, then at least in a way that shows it’s coming directly from him, leaving no room for doubt.”
Baba-Ahmed recently resigned as Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of the Vice President. He previously served as the spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF).
