ABUJA, — Minister of Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, has cautioned the All Progressives Congress (APC) against making changes to President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election ticket that would remove Vice President Kashim Shettima, arguing that such a move could trigger significant political resistance in the North and weaken the party’s electoral prospects.
Musawa spoke on “Mic On,” a podcast hosted by Channels Television journalist Seun Okinbaloye, amid speculation in political circles over whether the ruling party could alter the Muslim-Muslim ticket deployed in the 2023 presidential election.
According to Musawa, the most destabilising scenario for the APC would be a 2027 ticket that lacks a Northern Muslim presence, which she said could create an immediate “hurdle” in the party’s vote mobilisation across the core North. “If there is no Hausa, Fulani or Kanuri Muslim on that ticket, it creates a hurdle. That is the reality of the way people think,” she said.
She argued that northern politics is deeply embedded in identity and participation, warning that strategists who assume the APC can “reshuffle” its ticket without consequences may be underestimating the region’s political sensitivity. Musawa cited states such as Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Kebbi, Jigawa, Zamfara and Sokoto as areas where electoral decisions are closely watched and where turnout is often treated as a civic duty and a lever of influence.
Vanguard quoted Musawa as describing politics in many northern communities as “almost like an identity,” adding that misreading the region’s dynamics could come “at your own peril.”
On the opposition’s prospects ahead of 2027, Musawa said she does not expect the current configuration of rivals to defeat Tinubu and Shettima, describing the opposition field as crowded and fragmented by competing ambitions. “You have an opposition that is overcrowded. Every single member is vying for the same spot, and that alone creates a recipe for political failure,” she said, while adding that the APC is not taking opponents lightly.
