The National Vice Chairman (North East) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mustapha Salihu, has explained why Vice President Kashim Shettima was not included in the recent endorsement of President Bola Tinubu for a second term.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Salihu said including Shettima in the endorsement would have meant that Tinubu had already chosen his running mate for the 2027 election.

“It would have been inappropriate to endorse the Vice President along with the President because it would pre-assume that he is the running mate,” Salihu said.

The omission of Shettima happened during a North-East APC stakeholders meeting held in Gombe on Sunday, where the region endorsed President Tinubu for re-election but left out the Vice President.

The omission of Vice President Kashim Shettima also comes amid growing speculation about his political future.

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has described the disruption and attack on him at the party’s North East zonal stakeholders meeting as irresponsible and unpatriotic.

His response was contained in a statement by Oliver Okpala, his Senior Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment, as his official reaction to the highly tense stakeholders meeting held in Gombe State last weekend.

The statement noted that the disruption, acts of thuggery, and brigandage by some members of the party at the zonal meeting were totally condemnable, grievously irresponsible, and unpatriotic to the current political dispensation in the country.

“There is no space for violence in Nigeria’s political space presently; therefore, party members should resort to the civilised tenets of political decency, decorum, and comportment in their political activities in the country,” the statement read.

Reacting further to the unfortunate political crisis, Okpala remarked that it was the kind of unwarranted political crisis in the Western Region in the First Republic that developed into a major national crisis in the country that contributed to the collapse of the First Republic.

“The National Chairman of APC is a father to all, and since he assumed office, he has been working and uniting all members and showing love to all. His closeness and relationship to the President and Vice President are not in doubt, as it is as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.

“Even when Dr Ganduje tried to diffuse the tension by letting them know that it’s a joint ticket, these individuals, whose actions looked recalcitrant by nature, failed to see reason to agree with his genuine submission.

“He had emphasised that the North East produced Nigeria’s number two citizen and that the APC values the zone. That the President and Vice President are a single ticket under the constitution, yet they refused to listen.

“What kind of politicians are these individuals seeking violence with lack of tact to resolving whatever grievances they may have?” Okpala asked in the statement.

He further called on politicians across the country to advise their supporters to eschew violence, which he described as an ill wind that blows no one any good.

“Political leaders should advise their followers and supporters to always show restraint and play by the rules; politics is not about violence, it is dialogue, lobbying, and consultations. No matter what people feel, they should control their tempers.

“This attempt by these individuals to physically attack the National Chairman was an unruly act which must not be allowed to be swept under the carpet.

“As everyone could see, the National Chairman was going to his car, and they accosted him just to attack him. Thanks to the Nigerian police personnel and other security operatives who acted promptly, preventing them from physically attacking the National Chairman and stopping the situation from degenerating into total anarchy and chaos.

“This was not just an assault on Dr Ganduje but on the entire APC national leadership which he leads. How do you treat a man who has laboured round the clock for peace like this?” Okpala wondered.

“We condemn this act in its totality. Nigeria will never be allowed to descend into such brigandage; such an occasion is supposed to be one with decorum. This act does not portend well for the image of the country.

“This is a dangerous precedent. This was even an occasion where state governors from the zone were in attendance. What an effrontery!

“Those responsible for these ignoble actions should immediately return to the path of political rectitude because this, to say the least, is a mark of indiscretion which has no place in the current political dispensation.

“Dr Ganduje has always worked for peace and the unity of this country, and no one should pay him back like this. No, this is unacceptable. Violence can never have a place in our polity,” Chief Okpala concluded in the statement.

All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State said that the suspended governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has committed a mortal sin.

The party stated that even if he decided to ditch his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC, his sins would remain unforgiven.

Caretaker Committee chairman of the party in the state, Sir Tony Okocha made the position of the party known on Tuesday in Abuja while responding to questions regarding Fubara’s recent Sallah homage to President Bola Tinubu.

According to him, Fubara’s suspension and the declaration of a state of emergency were about his misdemeanour and had no political undertones.

He said; “If Fubara decides to join the APC, it has nothing to do with the state of emergency in Rivers state. His sins cannot be forgiven because he came to our party.

“You will jump into APC today and your sins are forgiven? That cannot be true. It won’t work that way. Then, it would have made APC as a dumping ground for people who commit misdemeanour and believe that by and large, we will come for reconciliation. No. It is not true. He has not spoken to me. He will enter the party through the door, not the window. Not only him, there are procedures for defection to another party, and if he claims to be a politician, he would know that all politics is local. He would try and defect in his ward. From there, it will come to us and my ward chairmen. I have asked, nobody brought any information about him entering APC”.

Asked whether he was worried about Fubara’s meeting with the president, Okocha said the APC had nothing to be worried about.

“How can I be worried that somebody visited my president? Don’t forget it was also the season of Sallah. Yesterday, I read somewhere that the former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Osoba, paid Sallah homage, and I don’t know whether you also saw the President in the company of Chief EN Wike. So we cannot be worried, we cannot gag the President to say you will see Mr A, you will not see Mr B. Perhaps, if I had made an application to see Mr President, I would have been there with my team”, he said.

Okocha also dismissed reports of a possible reconciliatory moves being embarked on by Gov. Fubara, saying there was nothing like that.

He said; “I am not a prophet of doom. I can only say to you with the benefit of knowledge that I am not aware of any reconciliatory move. No reconciliation is going on. Is it going to talk to Mr. President? But Mr. President has said go and make peace. There was no attempt at that. I am not aware of any reconciliatory moves by Fubara and his team”.