By Ayo Kehinde
APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje
The man in the center of the uproar that marred the All Progressives Congress, APC, summit in the Northeast, Salihu Mustapha, Northeast Vice Chairman, has described as a misrepresentation, the crisis reported to be over the non-endorsement of Vice-President Kashim Shettima alongside President Bola Tinubu for the 2027 election.
As widely reported the APC stakeholders in the North-East ended abruptly on Sunday, following an incident involving Comrade Mustapha Salihu and Abdullahi Ganduje, the party’s National Vice Chairman for the region and National Chairman.
Salihuwas said to have caused an uproar when he endorsed President Bola Tinubu for a second term, but failed to acknowledge Vice President Kashim Shettima during his speech.
The meeting, held in Gombe State, was attended by nearly all APC ministers, lawmakers, and governors from the North-East. The party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, also led a delegation of key figures to the event.
When Salihu took the podium, he openly supported Tinubu to run unopposed in the next election. However, his omission of Shettima’s name, a prominent son of Borno State in the North-East, sparked outrage among attendees. As soon as he concluded his remarks, delegates began shouting insults, with some threatening physical assault. Security personnel had to intervene and escort him out of the venue.
In an effort to ease the tension, Deputy National Chairman, Bukar Dalori, stepped in and offered a joint endorsement of both Tinubu and Shettima for a second term.
Despite this attempt at reconciliation, the meeting took another turn when the National Chairman, Ganduje, during his roughly 10-minute address, also endorsed Tinubu without mentioning Shettima.
His speech further aggravated the situation, prompting security operatives to escort him out as well. The event ended abruptly amid the lingering tensions.
Offering explanations on Monday, Mustapha said what was agreed by the stakeholders at a meeting that ended at 2:am on Sunday was that only President Tinubu’s name should be mentioned because the presidential ticket is a joint ticket, regardless of the fact that VP Shettima “is “a son of the soil”.
“We arrived at a conclusion of the meeting held up t0 2:am on Sunday that it will sound politically correct to highlight only Asiwaju, (President Tinubu) because the presidential ticket is a joint ticket. Vice Presidents are not elected. After all, the governors of Yobe Mai Buni Mala, Borno’s Babagana Zulum and their Gombe counterpart, Mohammad Yahaya made the same endorsements in their addresses,” he told ARISE Tv on Monday.
He said the video portraying exchange of fists over the event carried elements who were not the delegates at the summit.
