The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has dismissed speculations about a rift between President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, describing the rumours as “unfounded” and “imaginative”.
Idris made this known on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, on Wednesday.
“Feud rumours exist in the minds and imaginations of people who want to believe them,” he stated.
“I have been in the rooms where the President and the Vice President are; I have seen them working closely together.
“They are good friends; they’ve come a long way. I have not seen any indication that the President is desirous of dropping the Vice President,” Idris added.
The clarification followed concerns that Shettima may be dropped ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The speculation was further fuelled after the APC North-East summit in Gombe ended in controversy, when the party’s National Vice Chairman (North-East), Mustapha Salihu, endorsed Tinubu for a second term without mentioning Shettima.
Salihu, however, clarified in a later interview that there was no vice-presidential ticket to offer.
“There’s only one ticket — President. Endorsing Tinubu with conditions would have been inappropriate,” he stated.
A former member of the APC Board of Trustees, Ismaeel Ahmed, also described the claims as “malicious rumours” and insisted there was no substance to the reports suggesting discontent between the two top leaders.
Meanwhile, on May 22, 2025, 22 APC governors unanimously adopted President Tinubu as the party’s flagbearer for 2027.
