Shettima’s goose pimples disappear; Muslim-Muslim fire still rages, and what aileth Arunma Oteh?

Last Friday was a red-letter day for the Vice President, Kashim Shettima’s permutations over his fate on the ballot in 2027 ceased.

While he celebrates, the decision of his principal to retain him on the Muslim-Muslim ticket is drawing flaks. Ask Yakubu Dogara.

Arunma Oteh is not a politician, but she is bothered about the health of her country. Find out what “aileth” her.

Shettima’s red-letter day

Kashim Shettima, vice president of Nigeria, appears well-relieved. The goose pimples have disappeared. The apprehension has gone with his emergence Friday as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s running mate in 2027 election.

After what seemed a long wait and permutations, Shettima can now be said to be the happiest man in the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Vice President was beside himself with joy as he approached the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office to file his name. He also paid a thank-you visit to the president. Before Friday, there had been rumours that the president may have decided to drop him.

It was gathered that certain chieftains of the party had mounted pressure on the president to drop Shettima. They believed that the vice president may not have the political capital enough to galvanise votes for the party. Shettima is said to be a very loyal man to his boss. But the development has angered some members of the party who have threatened to exit the broom association.

For those who may be wondering why the President eventually settled for Shettima despite all the hullabaloo, the decision was more of political exigency than public sentiment.

Shettima was chosen as a counterpoise in the 2027 battle that, from all indications, promises to be a very tough one.

Those in the corridors of power in Abuja said that Shettima’s renomination was a reward for loyalty, competence, experience and commitment to national service.

The APC leaders in the North-East described the development as a reaffirmation of the region’s strategic importance in national politics.

Stanley Nkwocha, senior special assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, in an article Saturday stated that “by retaining VP Shettima, President Tinubu has done more than fill a space on the ballot. He has quelled a major source of needless political anxiety within the ruling party, shut down months of speculation over the Vice President’s place on the ticket, and reaffirmed the partnership that led the APC to victory in 2023.”

Like him or hate him, Shettima has been very loyal to his principal. Overtime, he has managed to earn the confidence of political bigwigs in his part of the country, despite few occasional skirmishes.

Some observers believe that it would have amounted to a grand miscalculation if the president had jettisoned Shettima for a fresh running mate. The extent of the backlash few months to the election could not have been imagined.

Don’t forget that the president is fishing for votes in the North with political juggernauts of Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso standing.

Given what the current administration has achieved in the North in the last three years with the help of Shettima, the VC remains the chief salesman of the government in that part of the country.

The President and the APC are racing against time and as a result have no time to do “tụ̀m̀bọm tụmbọm” on an untested hand. This, most probably, explained why the expectations of the likes of Yakubu Dogara, former speaker, House of Representatives, fell flat.

Truth be told, ahead of the 2027 general election, the Tinubu administration faces a herculean task of repeating its 2023 winning feat in the North.

In 2023, out of the 8.8 million winning votes he garnered from across the country, he got a total vote of 5,598,686 from the North.
The votes came from North Central 1,760,993, North East 1,185,458, and North West 2,652,235.

But currently, it would seem that the popularity of the government is waning in the North given the high level of allegations swirling around the Tinubu administration.

The recent SBM Intelligence poll indicated that the current administration’s rating in the North was plummeting. All of this may have informed the retention of Shettima on the ballot in 2027 in order not to upset the apple cart.

Don’t forget that the President polled 2,652,235 in the North West where Kwankwaso hails from.

Kwankwaso controls a massive voter base and the highly structured Kwankwasiyya movement, which cannot be ignored.

Kano State, where Kwankwaso holds sway, possesses the largest voting population in Northern Nigeria. Although the state governor is of the APC, it does not diminish the political sagacity of Kwankwaso and his ability to garner huge votes from the state.

Securing his cooperation and possibly have him on the ballot alongside Tinubu could have enhanced the electoral chances of the APC in 2027. But that alliance did not pull through. And that miss could be giving some aparatchiks in the ruling party serious migraine.

Muslim-Muslim fire still rages

Nigeria has returned to that point in 2022 when Bola Ahmed Tinubu picked another Muslim as a running mate in the run up to the 2023 general election.

At the time the decision was made, it set off a country-wide condemnation. Some Northern political chieftains of the APC who are Christians threatened to dump the party. Tinubu’s choice also nearly divided the Christendom as some ‘fake Bishops’ disguised under the claim of being members of the clergy, adorned cassocks to attend the unveiling of the then Vice Presidential candidate of the APC, Kashim Shettima. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) dissociated itself from the bishops, describing them as desperados who went there for themselves.

At that time, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal vehemently condemned the APC, describing the decision as a “disastrous error”, a “wicked plan” and a “demonic proposition” designed to intentionally divide the North and marginalise Nigerian Christians. He also claimed that it was “dead on arrival.”

Also vehement in his condemnation was former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, who labeled the same-faith ticket as “ungodly” and a “fatal error of judgment.”

As was in 2022 when it first happened, Dogara has again, begun to kick. Don’t forget, after he shouted himself hoarse in 2022, he was to later turn back to become Tinubu’s biggest megaphone.

He probably thought that the president would, this time around, pick him. But having realised that the road is closed, he has resumed his kicking and grandstanding.

Blurting out his frustration the other day, Dogara said: “You cannot preach national unity while your own political arrangement continues to deepen suspicion.”

A group loyal to him was also scathing in its reaction. It said: “Muslim-Muslim ticket may have delivered an election victory, but victory is not the same as national acceptance. Winning power does not erase the need for inclusion. It does not cancel the responsibility to reassure every community that it belongs.

“Instead, what has followed is hardship, insecurity, weak trust and a growing feeling that the government is more interested in political survival than national healing.”

While it is too late to step back on the Muslim-Muslim ticket, politicians must always put into consideration the sensitivity of religion and ethnicity in the nation’s political calculations. Any action to portray a pretence that it does not matter is akin to saying that Nigeria itself does not exist.

What may have worsened citizens’ repugnance towards it is the perception that such an arrangement may not have produced the kind of quality governance that may have made a nonsense of any campaign against it.

But as it is now, the Rubicon has been crossed, and it is of no benefit to cry over spilt milk.

Arunma Oteh’s heart cry

Many Nigerians are very concerned about their fatherland. Although they have attained the zenith of their own careers in life and have made name for themselves, they shed tears over the stunted growth of Nigeria, in all spheres.

Arunma Oteh, an economist, a former treasurer and a vice president of the World Bank, in a recent interview, poured out her heart over the state of the nation, particularly the low-level of voter participation in Nigeria. She bemoaned the unfortunate situation that has continued to foul the leadership recruitment process in Nigeria.

Oteh would like the involvement of the Nigerian youths in politics, particularly in deciding who gets to public offices through the ballot. She noted that it matters so much how the young people view elections and their participation.

Oteh deplored the deepening trust deficit in the system, bemoaning the abysmal voter turnout rate of 27 percent in 2023, which she noted was “very poor when compared with our peers.”

She urged the youth to take their future in their own hands by not only registering, but to also vote.

“Things may not be right, but there are things we can control. You don’t say things are not working well, then you refuse to vote,” she said.

She commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for extending the deadline for the continuous voter registration exercise to July 26, 2026, but wondered why the Commission should not allow registration to go on till the election in January as it is done in many other countries.

“If you do not register, if you do not vote, you are walking into the path of those who do not want us to vote. By 2027, we shall be having about 18 million youths that will be eligible to vote. We cannot stay on the outside to expect a change,” she said.

The former director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Nigeria, and founder, Oxford Think Thank, called for legislation to grant the young people certain percentage of elective offices as it is done in other countries where about 15 percent of the offices must be occupied by youths.

“We must ensure that different stakeholders are included in the governance process,” she said.

Apparently, Oteh was riding on the crest of the GoNigeria’s advocacy, which has continued to call for more inclusion in the nation’s electoral process.

In March this year, Atedo Peterside, a business leader and founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank, threw his weight behind the advocacy of civic platform GoNigeria, highlighting four key pillars essential for sustaining Nigeria’s democracy.

In a post shared he shared on his X (formerly Twitter) platform Atedo said that Nigeria’s democratic system rests on electoral reform, judicial reform, freedom of speech, and the security of life and property.

It was his belief that electoral reform remains the most critical of the four, noting that credible elections are fundamental to building legitimacy, strengthening institutions, and ensuring effective governance.

“Elections do not simply select leaders; they determine whether power is accepted as legitimate, whether institutions are trusted, and whether governance will be effective,” he stated.

GoNigeria had recently released a statement underscoring the urgency of electoral reform in safeguarding the country’s democratic future.

The group cited the recommendations of the electoral reform committee led by Mohammed Uwais, which emphasised the independence of the electoral body, transparency in processes, credible dispute resolution, and strict enforcement of electoral laws.

It noted that subsequent reforms, including the introduction of biometric voter registration, Permanent Voters’ Cards, and electronic accreditation, were aimed at enhancing transparency and public trust through the use of technology.