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2027: You will lose 80% of Northern Muslim votes if you change Shettima – APC Forum warns Tinubu

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The North-Central All Progressives Congress, APC, Forum has warned that President Bola Tinubu could lose 80 percent of northern Muslim votes if he bows to calls to jettison the Muslim-Muslim ticket and drop Vice President Kashim Shettima in 2027.

The North-Central APC Forum issued the warning in a statement released by its Chairman, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, in Abuja on Saturday.

Ahead of the 2027 election, Tinubu has come under pressure with various groups and stakeholders urging him to drop Shettima as his running mate. Some elements in the APC argue that the Muslim-Muslim ticket, which gave Tinubu victory in 2023, will not work in 2027, when he will be seeking a second term in office.

In a recent appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the Northern Ethnic Nationality Forum, led by Dominic Alancha, warned Tinubu against a repeat of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, noting that it cost the APC several northern states like Nasarawa, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory in the 2023 presidential poll. Alancha further warned that the APC would lose more grounds in the North, particularly in the Middle Belt, if the party repeats the Muslim-Muslim ticket in the next presidential election.

However, responding to the Northern Ethnic Nationality Forum’s call on Tibubu to drop the Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2027 election, the North-Central APC Forum, in the statement signed by Zazzaga, a member of the APC campaign council for the 2023 election, noted that the adoption of the Muslim-Muslim ticket was a strategy to win election and does not amount to marginalization of Christians and other religions.

Countering the Northern Ethnic Nationality Forum’s assertion that Tinubu would lose Christian votes in the Middle Belt if he goes ahead with a Muslim-Muslim ticket, the North-Central APC Forum insisted that there is no way the President will lose the region, with prominent Middle Belt christians such as APC National Chairman Prof Nentawe Yilwatda and Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume, along others, holding key positions.

“The Muslim-Muslim ticket will not affect President Bola Tinubu’s chances in the Middle Belt, which is part of the North-Central and this is because of the key positions held by Middle Belt christians in the APC government. We can guarantee that Tinubu will get 90 percent of the votes from the North-Central,” the statement said, adding that Tinubu’s achievements in office will guarantee his reelection and as a result, there is no need to take the “needless risk of changing a winning team”.

The APC Forum advised Tinubu to maintain the status quo and go into the 2027 election with Shettima as his running mate, so as to win the election.

The North-Central APC Forum further argued that those who are asking Tinubu to drop the Muslim-Muslim ticket did not vote for him in 2023 and would still also not give him their votes in 2027 – even if he bows to their wish by dropping Shettima.

Parts of the statement read, “Those that are calling on President Bola Tinubu to change Vice President Kashim Shettima, basing their agitation on the Muslim-Muslim ticket, if you check, you will notice that in 2023, most of their communities voted for Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

“Now if Peter Obi is to come out again in 2027, as expected, what is the guarantee that they will vote for Tinubu even if he is to drop Shettima and replace him with a Christian? Does it mean that these people will now leave Peter Obi and vote for Tinubu?”

The APC Forum accused those campaigning against Shettima and the Muslim-Muslim ticket of mischief, noting that they are seeking Tinubu’s defeat in 2027.

“The truth is most of these people are not Tinubu’s supporters, they don’t really want him to win reelection in 2027. That is why some of them are going as far as urging Mr President to drop those that went to great lengths to work for his victory in 2023. They are only trying to deceive Mr President but we believe the President knows better and will be able to see through their mischief. They don’t mean well for Mr President and the party.”

The Forum, in the same vein, alleged that some people who claim to be working for the President’s reelection are alienating and marginalizing northern Muslim communities, while concentrating attention on northern Christians.

“Another issue that we want to bring to Mr President’s attention is there are people close to him – we will not mention their names but they know themselves. They are going about in different communities in the North, giving money to some communities while excluding others all in the name of asking northern Christian communities to vote for Tinubu. But while they are doing that they are alienating and marginalizing northern Muslim communities. This is counter productive and it will backfire eventually and we don’t want Mr President to suffer because of the poor decisions of these people who are close to him.

“Now these people who are concentrating on northern Christians should consider this – what if the 2023 scenario repeats itself in 2027 with Peter Obi also contesting and President Tinubu now loses both Christian and Muslim votes? What if the Christian communities again vote for Obi and the Muslim communities who are now being neglected also refuse to vote for Tinubu?

“These are the issues that these people who are calling on Mr President to drop Shettima are either not thinking about, or are ignoring because they are up to mischief and do not mean well for the President and the APC.

“Our sincere advise for Mr President is that he should maintain the status quo that produced him. We are not in support of calls for President Tinubu to change the Vice President. Changing Kashim Shettima will not bear any positive fruit in the election because, looking at the results of the 2023 election, all the Christian dominated areas in the North voted for Peter Obi and we don’t expect a different outcome in 2027. Rather, President Tinubu risks losing a large chunk of northern Muslim votes if he listens to these calls and goes ahead to drop Vice President Kashim Shettima.

“We advise Mr President not to gamble with the 2023 election. President Tinubu will lose 80 percent of northern Muslim votes if he decides to change Shettima. Even if he decides to replace him with another northern Muslim, he will lose northern Muslim votes so the best approach is to maintain the status quo and go with what worked for him in the last election,” the statement stressed.

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Over 6.2 million Nigerians complete online voter pre-registration – INEC

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More than 6.2 million Nigerians completed their online pre-registration for the Continuous Voter Registration during week six of the exercise, according to data released by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday.

The figures, published on INEC’s official X handle and website, showed that a total of 6,232,673 pre-registrants were recorded between September 22 and 28, 2025.

Of this number, 3,250,338 were female, representing 52.15 percent, while 2,982,335 were male, accounting for 47.85 percent . Youths aged 18 to 34 continued to dominate the process, with 4,230,715 registering within the period. Students made up a significant portion with 1,565,824 entries, while persons with disabilities totaled 137,865.

INEC also reported that 1,004,132 Nigerians completed both online and physical registrations in Week five, covering the period from September 22 to 26, 2025.

This figure includes 537,743 who finalized their registration online and 466,389 who completed the process physically.

Demographic data for the completed registrations in week five showed that 555,077 were female (55.28 percent) and 449,055 were male (44.72 percent). Youths made up 742,379 of the total, while students were 354,406. The number of registered PWDs during the week stood at 13,987.

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Osun PDP, APC clash as FG releases LG allocations

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The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, on Sunday, confirmed that the Federal Government had released the withheld six-month allocations for the state’s local government areas.

The APC, however, denied that the funds were paid into the private accounts of council chairmen elected on the platform of the APC in October 2022.

It said the funds were paid “into the local government councils’ accounts.”

However, the ruling PDP, which said it was not aware of the payment, demanded that the APC disclose the details of the accounts the funds were paid into.

The PDP wondered how the Federal Government would release the funds into bank accounts unknown to the state’s accountant general, auditor-general for local governments and the ministry of local governments.

The clash between the two parties comes after the National Union of Local Government Employees accused the Federal Government of illegally releasing the withheld six-month allocation to the APC.

Speaking on behalf of the union on Sunday, NULGE Chairman, Dr Nathaniel Ogungbangbe,  said the union had confirmed that the Federal Government paid the March–August 2025 allocations into accounts illegally opened by the APC chairmen and councillors despite pending court cases.

He specifically accused the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; the Accountant-General of the Federation, Babatunde Ogunjimi; and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), of abusing their offices by facilitating the release.

“Today, we have it on good authority that these three principal officers of the Federal Government have released the Osun State Local Government Councils’ allocations for the month of March 2025 to August 2025 to the illegal bank accounts opened by court-sacked APC chairmen and councillors,” Ogungbangbe said.

“We find this development very scary and alarming.

Paying Local Government allocations into privately opened and illegal bank accounts of politicians is unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented in the history of public administration in Nigeria.”

Ogungbangbe recalled that a Federal High Court had on May 15, 2025, ordered parties to maintain the status quo, an order he said was acknowledged by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which initially withheld payment.

“The Attorney-General cannot assume the role of the Supreme Court by setting aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the sacking of the APC politicians by the Federal High Court. The Attorney-General is not above the law,” he declared.

He also accused the APC of trying to destabilise the state.

“Their ultimate goal is to cause anarchy and use it to call on the President to declare a State of Emergency in the state so that they could loot our resources,” he alleged, adding that council workers would not return to duty posts until the issue was resolved.

But the Osun APC dismissed the allegations, describing them as lies designed to favour the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, the APC said: “It is not true that the said federal allocations are paid into the account of any of our local government council chairmen or any of the APC members or chieftain but into the local government councils’ accounts.”

Olabisi further argued that NULGE had no authority to interpret court rulings.

“We want to, as a party which believes in the rule of law, make it abundantly clear that it is not the duty of the NULGE to interpret any court judgment. The Court of Appeal judgement of the 10th of February, 2025, which reinstated the APC local government council chairmen and their councillors, is still in force as there is no record anywhere that it was appealed against.”

He accused the NULGE leadership of pursuing selfish interests and acting as an appendage of Governor Ademola Adeleke.

“The NULGE needs not weave up a series of lies in respect of the payment of the federal allocations… The sing-song of the NULGE before now was that some agencies of the Federal Government were withholding the accumulated federal allocations. Now that the logjam has been laid to rest, what would be their next excuse?” he asked.

The party also urged security agencies to remain on alert.

“We plead with the NULGE to shun brigandage, as Osun, being a subset of the country, is being governed by the rule of law,” the statement read.

Reacting to the revelation and the admission by the APC, Osun PDP called on the APC to disclose the accounts into which the allocations were paid and the signatories of the accounts.

In a statement on Sunday by its Chairman,  Sunday Bisi, the PDP described the release of funds to the APC as a crime against the people of Osun State.

The PDP said rather than attacking NULGE, the APC should “come clean before the people of Osun State by publicly disclosing the exact bank accounts into which the local government allocations were paid and the signatories to those accounts. The APC should also disclose the amount in each of the accounts.”

The PDP said, “We demand these details because all the statutory officers of all the 30 local governments who should be aware of the payment are not aware of it. These officers manage all the accounts of the local governments. They have not seen a dime in any of their local government accounts. Also, none of the state accountant general, the auditor-general for local governments and the ministry of local governments is aware of the payments or where they were paid into.

“The Osun PDP wishes to remind the APC that hurling insults at labour unions cannot change the reality that the people of Osun are demanding answers. The questions are simple: into which accounts were the allocations paid, and who are the signatories?”

The PDP said the APC must urgently provide answers, “or we will conclude that the APC and its leaders have staged the greatest heist in the history of Nigeria by diverting over six months of allocations of all local governments in Osun State.”

“The PDP assures the people of Osun State that under Governor Ademola Adeleke, transparency and accountability will continue to be the guiding principles in the management of public funds. No amount of intimidation or blackmail by the APC will derail this resolve,” Bisi added.

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Adamawa ADC gives Atiku ultimatum to pick membership card

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The African Democratic Congress has issued an ultimatum to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and other prominent figures in the party to register at their respective wards before the end of the year or risk losing recognition as members.

Speaking exclusively to The PUNCH in Yola, the Adamawa State Chairman of the ADC, Shehu Yohanna, said the party had unveiled its membership register, stressing that only those with valid membership cards would be acknowledged.

“Atiku Abubakar should go to his ward in Jada Local Government and register, Babachir should go to his ward in Hong Local Government and register. That is the only way they can be treated as legitimate members of the party,” Yohanna said.

“You cannot be taking decisions for a party you are not constitutionally a member of. All of you should register for the greatness of our party.

“It is illegal for someone to hold a leadership position in the party at the national level without being a registered member. That makes a caricature of the party,” he declared.

Last Thursday, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, reaffirmed the caucus’ resolution that all coalition members resign from their current parties and register fully with the ADC—a directive dismissed as inconsequential by both the APC and PDP.

Atiku’s much-publicised membership registration, initially scheduled for August in his hometown of Jada, was suspended indefinitely last month without explanation.

The PUNCH gathered that the former Vice President is weighing his chances of clinching the ADC’s presidential ticket, particularly in light of the growing influence of Peter Obi’s political movement within the party.

Yohanna dismissed the ruling All Progressives Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party as incapable of defeating the ADC in the 2027 general elections.

He added that the ADC boasts politically influential figures and is prepared to wrest power from the APC administration.

“The unfriendly policies of the present government have paved the way for our party to take over and reposition the country for authentic democracy,” he said.

On the reported crisis in the party’s Adamawa chapter, Yohanna maintained that he remained the legitimate chairman.

“My tenure expires in 2026 based on the constitution of the party, so nobody can remove me from office. The ADC is not the estate of anyone; it is a political party registered by former President Olusegun Obasanjo,” he said.

He further claimed that the credentials of ADC governorship aspirants are among the best in Adamawa and indeed across Nigeria.

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