By Dennis Okechukwu
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday received a delegation of political leaders and senior government officials from the North-East at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in what was described as a thank-you visit following the renomination of Vice President Kashim Shettima as the All Progressives Congress (APC) vice-presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.
The delegation was led by Borno State Governor and Chairman of the North-East Governors’ Forum, Prof. Babagana Zulum.
Although the Presidency did not officially disclose the purpose of the meeting, sources said the visit was organised to express the region’s appreciation to President Tinubu for retaining Shettima on the APC’s 2027 presidential ticket.
Among those in the delegation were former Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff; Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari; Special Adviser to the President on General Duties in the Office of the Vice President and former FCT Minister, Aliyu Moddibo Umar; Deputy Chief of Staff to the President in the Office of the Vice President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia; and Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
The visit came a week after President Tinubu formally presented Shettima with his APC vice-presidential nomination certificate at the Presidential Villa, reaffirming the party’s ticket for the 2027 presidential election.
Governor Zulum had earlier disclosed that North-East governors planned to lead a wider regional delegation to thank the President for his decision to retain Shettima.
Shettima, a former two-term governor of Borno State, is the first politician from the North-East geopolitical zone to serve as Nigeria’s Vice President.
The North-East, comprising Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe states, remains one of the APC’s strongest support bases. In the 2023 presidential election, the Tinubu-Shettima ticket won all six states in the region.