The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, has said that the president’s running mate for the 2027 general election will only be decided after the All Progressives Congress (APC) holds its next national convention.
Mr. Onanuga made this known during an interview with Daily Trust, where he addressed recent speculations suggesting that President Tinubu may drop Vice President Kashim Shettima ahead of the next election cycle.
The rumour gained traction following a recent APC stakeholders’ meeting in Gombe, where some party chieftains endorsed President Tinubu for a second term but failed to mention Vice President Shettima during their speeches. The omission reportedly caused a stir among some delegates at the event.
Reacting, Mr. Onanuga described the speculation as unnecessary and baseless. According to him, the process of nominating a presidential candidate and selecting a running mate follows a clear structure under Nigeria’s presidential system.
“In a presidential system, the candidate is nominated first before a running mate is picked. That’s what happened with President Buhari. He was chosen first, and his running mate came afterwards,” he explained.
He added that, “Once the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) releases the timetable and the party convention is held, if the president emerges as the APC candidate, then he will announce his running mate.”
Mr. Onanuga also dismissed talks of a strained relationship between President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima, describing it as nothing more than “beer parlour gossip.”
“As far as I know, the president and the vice president enjoy a very cordial working relationship. All these talks about conflict are just fabrications by mischief makers,” he said.
He also waved aside claims suggesting that President Tinubu is grooming his son, Seyi Tinubu, as a possible successor or vice president. “That’s just laughable. People say all sorts of ridiculous things,” he remarked.
Addressing concerns over the president’s past relationship with his former deputies during his time as Lagos State governor, Mr. Onanuga said those situations had their own political contexts and should not be seen as a pattern.
“Yes, there were issues in the past. His first deputy, Kofo Akerele-Bucknor, left after some disagreements. Femi Pedro, who replaced her, also left later on due to his own political ambition. But these were not personal fallouts; they were political situations at the time,” he clarified.
Mr. Onanuga insisted that it would be wrong to use past events to predict the president’s current relationship with Vice President Shettima.
“Every political circumstance is different. The relationship between Tinubu and Shettima, from what I see, is strong and focused on governance,” he concluded.
