The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday confirmed Vice President Kashim Shettima as President Bola Tinubu’s running mate for the 2027 presidential election, ending months of uncertainty about his position on the party’s ticket.
The ruling party also said it was confident Tinubu and Shettima would win re-election as it officially received their nomination forms for submission to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before Saturday’s deadline.
The nomination forms were presented to APC National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, in Abuja by the President’s Special Adviser on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari. The event was attended by members of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, the National Assembly, the Federal Executive Council, the APC National Working Committee, state party chairmen and some governorship candidates.
The submission came before INEC’s 6 p.m. Saturday deadline for political parties to upload the nomination forms of their presidential and National Assembly candidates through its online portal, as required by the Electoral Act, 2026.
Speaking at the event, APC National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Argungu, described it as the official presentation of the completed nomination forms of the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Argungu said Tinubu had already emerged as the APC presidential candidate through the party’s primary election and urged members to stay united ahead of the 2027 election.
Speaking on behalf of APC governors, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma restated their support for Tinubu and the party’s leadership.
“We are delighted that this event is coming after a well-organised and thoroughly supervised primary process. We reiterate our commitment to continue supporting President Tinubu and the party,” he said.
Uzodimma also urged party members to support all APC candidates, saying he believed the party would remain in power after the next general election.
While receiving the nomination forms, APC National Chairman Yilwatda said the event showed the confidence party members have in Tinubu’s leadership.
He listed the student loan scheme, infrastructure projects and agricultural programmes as some of the achievements of the Tinubu administration and said he believed the Tinubu-Shettima ticket would win another term.
“We will all come out and mobilise across the six geopolitical zones. I am sure there will be healthy competition among the governors.
“One geopolitical zone has already told me they will deliver the highest number of votes for Mr President. I will be happy to see such competition among the governors as they mobilise their states so that we can see which state will return the highest number of votes for Mr President,” he stated.
Yilwatda added that the APC would campaign based on the achievements of the current administration, expressing confidence that Nigerians would give Tinubu another mandate.
Speaking with journalists after the ceremony, APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, confirmed that the party had retained Tinubu and Shettima as its presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
“The presidential candidate of the party is President Bola Ahmed, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and our vice presidential candidate is the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shetima,” he stated.
With the submission of the nomination forms, the APC has officially retained the Tinubu-Shettima ticket for the 2027 presidential election, ending months of speculation about the vice president’s place on the party’s ticket.
