The search for the replacement of the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, is yet to be over as the Presidency is said to be bent on running on a Christian-Muslim ticket in 2027. A party source within the week confided in Sunday Telegraph that there is no way the party would run on Muslim Muslim ticket for the 2027 Presidential election.

According to the source: “The concern now is who is to be chosen as the Christian Vice Presidential candidate in 2027 that would be positive for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).”

In 2023, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC chose Senator Shettima as Vice Presidential candidate, many Christians kicked against it on the grounds that it did not reflect religious balance and might likely cause trouble in the system. For this reason, some APC members left the party and decamped to other parties, while the APC and its Presidential candidate believed that was the winning ticket.

However, since the government was formed in 2023, the Muslim-Muslim ticket has become a source of concern to APC nationally and internationally. At the national level, both the Christian and Muslim faith have complained that it has not added any advantage to good governance and any of the religious faith.

On the other hand, the international communities have considered it a reason for the alleged Christian genocide in the country. The opposition parties are also latching on the Muslim – Muslim ticket to demarket the ruling party. Consequently, to win the 2027 election and counter the allegations of religious intolerance and Christian genocide, the APC is considering the Muslim Christian ticket imperative.

Recently, it was rumoured that the party was considering Bishop Mathew Kukah of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese; the Minister of Defence, Gen. Christopher Musa (rtd) or Hon. Yakubu Dogara, former Speaker House of Representatives as a replacement for Shettima The trio trended in the social media until the National leadership of APC came to dismiss the story of their being considered as a replacement for Shettima.

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, in a statement issued in Abuja said: “Our party states in categorical terms that the stories are purely speculative, untrue and utterly baseless.” But speaking to Sunday Telegraph, a party source said the issue was not over as they are considering the APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.

The wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu was said to be one of those pushing for Yilwatda to replace Shettima. Some APC governors are also in support of the consideration of the party’s National Chairman for the Vice President position.

The problem the party is having is how to assuage the North East Zone, when the Vee Pee position is taken away from them. North East governors and other chieftains from the zone insist that Shettima should be retained, otherwise APC would lose their votes.

The source, speaking, said, the party and the Presidency were of the opinion that the Senate President might go to the North East. “And should it be achieved, the Speaker will come to the South,” the source said. “But one thing is for sure.

There is no decision that APC will take in 2027 about Muslim -Muslim ticket or Muslim Christian ticket that would guarantee them easy victory,” the source also said.

To buttress this, Prof. Yusuf Usman, said in an interview that that the 2023 APC Muslim-Muslim ticket was a scam against the North and now that the President’s plot to pick a northern Christian is still another plot against the North.

He described the situation as a deceit of the Northern Muslim in 2023, now turning around to dupe Northern Christians to get the 2027 victory.