The Presidency has announced that President Bola Tinubu will select his running mate for the 2027 elections only after he officially accepts the All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination during the party’s convention slated for 2026.
This clarification was made on Thursday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in an interview with Daily Trust newspaper.
Onanuga addressed growing public concerns regarding the recent exclusion of Vice President Kashim Shettima from various endorsements currently being declared for President Tinubu’s potential re-election bid. He dismissed rumours of an alleged rift between the President and his Vice, describing such claims as “baseless.”
“When I saw the reports, I immediately dismissed them as non-issues,” Onanuga stated. “In a presidential system, the candidate first emerges through nomination and only afterward selects a running mate. This was exactly the process followed during Buhari’s tenure—he was nominated first and then chose his running mate. It is not done simultaneously.”
He further explained that once the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) releases the official timetable for the election season, the APC will organise its convention. Should President Tinubu be nominated again, it is at that point he will select his running mate for the 2027 race.
For now, the Presidency insists that any talk of division or exclusion is unfounded and that Nigerians should wait for the official party processes in 2026. Updates are expected as the APC convention approaches.
