A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ismaeel Ahmed, on Tuesday firmly dismissed rumors of any plan to replace Vice President Kashim Shettima for the 2027 presidential race.

This comes amid growing speculation of a rift between President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.

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

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.

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“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.”