The Nigerian government, through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has played down any rift between President Bola Tinubu and his vice, Kashim Shettima.
There are speculations that the President might just be considering picking someone else if he gets his party’s ticket for a second term.
At some point, the Vice president was said to have been stopped from seeing the President at the presidential Villa.
Most recently, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the North-East led by Mustapha Salihu, publicly endorsed the President without mentioning Shettina.
This led to the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum leading a protest against the President’s endorsement for 2027 by the APC North-East without Shettima.
However, speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday, the Minister said, “This feud exists in the imagination of the people who want to believe that. I’ve seen the President and the Vice President walk in close quarters.
“I’ve been in the room where the President and the Vice President…I’m talking about recently.”
Asked about the possibility that Shettima might not run with Tinubu in 2027, the Minister said, “Who told you that? When President Tinubu gave the ticket the first time, did you hear of Shetimas name?
“The choice of who takes it is the prerogative of the president to choose who will be his vice president.
“He has chosen Kashim Shettima. They are working perfectly together. I’m not aware of any of these things, the imagination.
On the report that there was some time that the VP could not even see the president, the Minister said, “Not see the president in this country? This is not an Atiku-Obasanjo scenario. We have a Tinubu-Shetima. I mean, they are working perfectly. He likes Shettima. He likes him. They’ve come along a long time.
“And I don’t think that people should just make noise out of this. These people are good friends. I mean, they’ve come a long way. I’ve not seen any indication that the President is desirous of dropping his vice president.
“Only yesterday, he was representing him in the banquet hall. Every day of the week you see the vice president going to speak…
“Has Vice President Kashim Shettima ever told you that he has a problem with the President?”