Baba-Ahmed: Tinubu’s silence fuels rumours of dropping Shettima in 2027

Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a former political adviser to President Bola Tinubu, says the president’s failure to personally address rumours about dropping Vice President Kashim Shettima is cause for concern.

Speaking on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, Baba-Ahmed said Tinubu should have publicly shut down the speculation surrounding his 2027 ticket.

“I would be very curious to find out what it is that makes all these stories about dropping Shettima. I think, somewhere along the line, to be honest, the president should have done something a long time ago,” he said.

Although presidential aide Bayo Onanuga had dismissed the reports in June, Baba-Ahmed insists that such a sensitive issue demands a direct statement from the president himself.

To him, the president missed an opportunity to quell what has become a growing political fire.

“If all these stories about dropping the vice president for somebody else, another Northern vice president, maybe a Christian, maybe from somewhere else — have absolutely no iota of truth, it would have taken just one thing: the president directly and personally saying, ‘Stop this nonsense,” he said.

“I have confidence in my vice president, I work well with him, I am happy with him, and I want this nonsense about me dropping him, now or in the future, to stop.”

Baba-Ahmed added that Tinubu’s silence is not only risky but also potentially damaging to the relationship between him and his deputy.

“It’s worrying; let me just say it is worrying. If what I have said is exactly what the president thinks, he should have said it,” he said.

“If he doesn’t say it the way I have, he should have found a way, but it should come from him – it should be direct, and it must be emphatic.”

Despite speculation, Vice President Shettima has remained silent, choosing instead to continue working closely with the President to navigate Nigeria through tough times.