The Federal Government has dismissed talks of a strained relationship between President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Amid reports suggesting Tinubu may be eyeing a different running mate for 2027 if he secures his party’s nomination, Information Minister Mohammed Idris addressed the matter in an interview on Channels Television.
There had been claims that Shettima was once denied access to the President at the Villa. More recently, APC leaders from the North-East, led by Mustapha Salihu, threw their support behind Tinubu’s 2027 bid without mentioning Shettima.
This silence prompted a reaction from Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, who led a protest questioning the Vice President’s exclusion from the endorsement.
Reacting to all this, Idris said, “This feud exists in the imagination of the people who want to believe that. I’ve seen the President and the Vice President walk in close quarters. I’ve been in the room where the President and the Vice President…I’m talking about recently.”
When asked whether Shettima would still be on the ticket in 2027, the Minister replied: “Who told you that? When President Tinubu gave the ticket the first time, did you hear of Shetima’s name? The choice of who takes it is the prerogative of the president to choose who will be his vice president. He has chosen Kashim Shettima. They are working perfectly together. I’m not aware of any of these things, the imagination.”
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On allegations that Shettima was once blocked from seeing the President, he said: “Not see the president in this country? This is not an Atiku-Obasanjo scenario. We have a Tinubu-Shetima. I mean, they are working perfectly. He likes Shettima. He likes him. They’ve come along a long time.”
He continued, “And I don’t think that people should just make noise out of this. These people are good friends. I mean, they’ve come a long way. I’ve not seen any indication that the President is desirous of dropping his vice president.”
Backing this up with a recent example, Idris said:
“Only yesterday, he was representing him in the banquet hall. Every day of the week you see the vice president going to speak… Has Vice President Kashim Shettima ever told you that he has a problem with the President?”