By Reloaded News Desk
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has warned that internal divisions within the All Progressives Congress (APC) pose a greater concern to the ruling party ahead of the 2027 general elections than opposition politicians.
Shettima spoke on Saturday, in Abuja, during the unveiling of the campaign headquarters of Arewa for Asiwaju (A4A), a northern political coalition supporting the re-election of President Bola Tinubu and the Vice-President.
Addressing party supporters, Shettima said disagreements within the APC could undermine its electoral prospects if members failed to work together across presidential, governorship and legislative contests.
“Honestly, I am not afraid of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I am not afraid of a diminished Peter Obi. But I am more afraid of internal contradictions within our household. If we unite as a people, as a family, we will conquer,” he said.
His remarks placed party cohesion at the centre of the APC’s preparations for the next general elections, with particular emphasis on the relationship between the presidential campaign and the party’s candidates at state level.
The Vice-President cautioned political leaders in the North against supporting Tinubu’s re-election bid while working against APC governors seeking another term in their respective states.
“There is no point in championing the cause of the presidential election and then undermining the governor in the gubernatorial election. Honestly, it will not go down well with the system,” he said.
He urged party members to support APC governors, members of the National Assembly and the President, stressing that the party needed a coordinated approach across the different levels of the elections.
“Let’s rally round our governors. Let’s rally round our members of the National Assembly. Let’s rally round President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and see to the victory in the next round of elections,” he added.
Shettima also expressed confidence in the APC’s political standing in northern Nigeria, claiming that the region had demonstrated support for the Tinubu-led administration.
“From Adamawa to Zamfara, from Borno to Niger, we have spoken,” he said.
On election-day organisation, the Vice-President said the APC had 361,045 officials operating across ward and local government structures to cover the country’s 176,845 polling units.
He maintained that the party needed to translate its organisational strength into effective grassroots mobilisation and measurable performance. “Politics is still local,” Shettima said.
He disclosed that he had asked the Borno State governor to compile a list of political appointees from the state down to the local government level so their contributions could be assessed against their performance in their polling units, wards and local government areas.
The Vice-President also claimed that the APC controlled 18 of the 19 northern states. He further said that 15 of the 18 members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party from Kano State had defected to the ruling party.
Shettima urged APC supporters to approach the contest against former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar with respect, despite the political differences between them. “Go and perform. Go and defeat Baba Atiku. Defeat him respectfully,” he said.
Beyond party organisation and electoral strategy, the Vice-President acknowledged the economic difficulties confronting households across the country.
“Every household struggling to make ends meet reminds us how much remains to be done. We lose our hearing when applause becomes our only source of information,” he said.
The remark acknowledged the importance of listening to citizens even as the administration continues to defend its economic policies and reforms.
Shettima attributed the country’s economic difficulties to the conditions inherited by the Tinubu administration, citing foreign reserves of $3.9 billion and more than ₦27 trillion in Ways and Means obligations. He also claimed that Nigeria’s foreign reserves had risen to approximately $58.9 billion.
Those figures were presented as part of his defence of the administration’s economic record; their implications for household welfare remain a separate question from the country’s headline financial indicators.
The APC is preparing for the 2027 elections amid competition for political influence, negotiations among party leaders and the need to maintain cooperation between its national and state structures.
Shettima’s warning highlights a challenge facing the ruling party: securing support for its presidential ticket may not automatically guarantee unity behind its governorship and legislative candidates.
His appeal for party members to close ranks therefore went beyond a general call for solidarity. It addressed the risk of political interests within the same party pulling in different directions during the same election cycle.
For the APC, the task will be to turn its existing political structures into coordinated support across the ballot while responding to the concerns of Nigerians facing economic hardship.
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