By Obinna Uballa
Hon. Yakubu Dogara former Speaker of the House of Representatives, has added his voice to the intensifying debate over President Bola Tinubu’sl Muslim-Muslim ticket, urging the president to base his 2027 running mate decision on justice and national cohesion rather than fear or political pressure.
Dogara spoke on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme amid speculation that Vice-President Kashim Shettima could be replaced as Tinubu’s running mate ahead of the 2027 general election.
The former speaker, a Christian from the North, said the question of power sharing and religious balance should not be treated as a token political calculation, but as a moral imperative. He emphasised that the essence of governance is inclusiveness, adding that decisions should be guided by fairness and justice.
“Whatever we are doing shouldn’t be because we are afraid of anybody breathing down our necks; it should be because it is the right thing to do,” Dogara said.
He also stressed that rotational presidency discussions should reflect the reality of Nigeria’s religious diversity. “If we are talking about rotational presidency, there is nothing stopping us from having that discussion as well, because you are not just talking about northern Christians but about the Christian faith as a whole,” he said.
Dogara argued that religious balance should be achieved by ensuring that if a Muslim is on the ticket, he represents the Muslim community, while a Christian represents the Christian faith, regardless of the region they come from. “That way, you achieve religious balance,” he said.
But he warned that such a balance should not be driven by fear but by justice. “If we’re going to do anything along those lines, it shouldn’t be that we are scared, but because, as men of it, we believe that God requires of us to do justice,” he said.
Dogara’s intervention comes as the debate over the Muslim-Muslim ticket seems to have become a major fault line within the ruling APC, with voices emerging from within and outside the party.
The New Diplomat had reported that Minister of Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, cautioned the party against dropping a Northern Muslim from Tinubu’s re-election ticket, warning that such a move could weaken the party’s prospects in the 2027 general election.
Musawa argued that the party’s success depends on the unity of the North and that any move perceived as marginalising Northern Muslims could provoke a backlash.
The controversy has also produced mixed signals from All Progressives Congress (APC) groups across the country. In the North-East, the APC North-East stakeholders’ meeting in Gombe last year turned chaotic when the party’s national vice chairman endorsed Tinubu for a second term without mentioning Shettima. The event collapsed into disorder, with delegates shouting and chairs thrown in protest. The incident reinforced perceptions that Shettima was being sidelined.
That sentiment has been echoed repeatedly by APC youth groups in the North-East. Speaking in Bauchi, Kabiru Garba Kobi, chairman of the APC Youth Parliament in the zone, dismissed the speculation around Shettima’s replacement as “dangerous and divisive.”
He warned that “any attempt to replace Senator Kashim Shettima would amount to a grave political miscalculation that could cost President Tinubu massive support in the North, especially the North-East.”
Yet, on the other side of the divide, Christian leaders and activists insist that retaining a Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2027 would amount to entrenching exclusion.
“Shettima is a Muslim, the President is a Muslim. Is that not complete genocide to Christians in the political world?” asked Reverend Ezekiel Dachomo, Regional Leader of the Church of Christ in Nations in an interview on Arise TV.
In the North-Central, the APC Forum has taken a different stance. While acknowledging Christian grievances, the group warned against dropping Shettima, describing the speculation as dangerous and divisive. In a statement signed by its chairman, Saleh Zazzaga last week, the forum said the Muslim-Muslim ticket “gave us victory in 2023” and warned that changing it could be a “grievous political miscalculation.”
“We totally and unequivocally reject calls and plans to drop Vice President Kashim Shettima,” the statement read.
The forum argued that replacing Shettima would not automatically win new votes for Tinubu. It noted that many Christian minorities in the North had voted for Peter Obi in 2023 and could do so again regardless of the vice-presidential candidate.
Beyond internal party debate, the Muslim-Muslim ticket seems to have drawn international attention, particularly from the United States. Political insiders say the Donald Trump administration’s renewed focus on alleged Christian persecution in Nigeria has strengthened calls for a Christian running mate in 2027.
The U.S. factor, analysts say, has emboldened domestic Christian groups and intensified the argument that Nigeria must correct what they describe as an imbalance in its political leadership.
But the North-East remains firm that Shettima is too important to be removed. The region contributed about 1.2 million votes to Tinubu’s victory in 2023, and supporters say dropping the vice president could alienate a crucial voting bloc.
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno has been among the most vocal defenders of the vice president, warning that replacing him would be a major political mistake.
Amid the ongoing debate, the choice facing Tinubu has become a national dilemma. On one side is the demand for religious balance from Christian groups and international partners. On the other is the fear of alienating the Muslim North, particularly the North-East, where Shettima is seen as a symbol of trust and inclusion.
