By Kolawole Ojebisi
The presidency has dismissed claims that President Tinubu’s record of changing deputies twice as Lagos governor lends credence to speculation that he’s planning to drop his current second-in-command, Kashim Shettima, ahead of 2027.
The Special Adviser to Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said his principal’s past decisions were informed by political exigencies, stressing that they don’t define the president’s re-election strategies.
Onanuga spoke in an interview with Dailytrust on Friday.
He said, “That’s just speculation. Yes, when he was governor, there were issues. In his first term, he and his deputy, Kofo, didn’t get along, and she had to leave. Femi Pedro replaced her. In the second term, he retained Pedro, but Pedro later defected—he wanted to be governor. That’s why he had to go. I don’t want to reopen old wounds, but that’s what happened.
“So, it’s wrong to say he has a pattern of discarding deputies. There were specific political circumstances each time. That’s what I’m explaining,”
The presidential aide added that the speculation of a rift between Tinubu and Shettima which had been widely reported even before the ongoing endorsement debate was baseless.
“I’m not aware of any issues between the president and the vice president. From what I know, they have an excellent working relationship. All the speculation is just beer parlour gossip. People even say ridiculous things like Seyi Tinubu is the vice president—absolute nonsense.
“In this country, deputy roles—whether deputy governor or vice president—are always surrounded by rumours. Even when there’s no conflict, people around them will concoct stories. But as far as I know, Tinubu and Shettima work together very well,”
Recall that the recent waves of endorsement of Tinubu by the ruling All Progressives Congress’ faithful without mentioning Shettima’s name has fuelled speculation that the vice president may be replaced with another politician as the present incumbent’s running mate in 2027.
