_"for many of them, the VP slot is a poisoned chalice - track record of betrayal and political abandonment - refuse to be stepping stones for a President who treats alliances as disposable items - cautionary tale of loyalty rewarded with marginalization or outright betrayal - notorious, “winner-takes-all” mentality - seen not as partners, but as mere tools,useful only for election victories - governs with an ethnic lens that reduces national leadership to sectional patronage"_
It appears that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has painted himself into a political corner, ensnared by his own strategic miscalculations, following the widening rift with his Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima. Insider sources have revealed to me that the President has been grappling with sleepless nights, haunted not just by his fractured alliance with Shettima but by the unintended consequences of his rumoured ambition for a second term in office.
A reliable source, who confided in me a few weeks ago, disclosed that President Tinubu, desperate to preserve his political foothold, has secretly dangled the vice-presidential slot before no fewer than seven influential northern leaders. Intriguingly, some of these leaders aren’t even members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), underscoring the desperation in the President’s camp.
Yet, rather than rush to embrace the offer, these northern heavyweights are treading with intense caution. Why? Because the current administration is increasingly perceived as a sinking ship. With Tinubu’s abysmal performance record, marked by unrelenting economic hardship and a legacy of divisive governance, many political stakeholders in the north are reluctant to tether their fate to a presidency that has become synonymous with disillusionment. For many of them, the VP slot is a poisoned chalice.
Even more telling is that a majority of these northern political actors are actively considering abandoning the APC entirely. Their gaze has shifted toward the emerging coalition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC),which is being quietly embraced as a viable alternative and a rallying point for disaffected leaders nationwide.
What has fueled this exodus of confidence? Many point to President Tinubu’s track record of betrayal and political abandonment. Take, for instance, the fate of several key allies: his 1999 deputy governor in Lagos; former FCT Minister Nasir El-Rufai; Vice President Shettima; outspoken APC loyalist Joe Igbokwe; former Lagos governor Akinwunmi Ambode; Hon. Miranda; Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara; and the general humiliation of the South-South via the forced emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio as Senate President. Each of these names carries a cautionary tale of loyalty rewarded with marginalization or outright betrayal.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, it is whispered, only survived due to the bitter lessons of the Ambode debacle. But should Tinubu claw his way to a second term, even Sanwo-Olu may not be spared from the proverbial sledgehammer. Tinubu’s notorious “winner-takes-all” mentality has alienated many who once rallied behind him. Northern leaders have begun to realize they are seen not as partners, but as mere tools,useful only for election victories, discarded once power is secured.
This perception is driving a firm and strategic rejection of Tinubu’s VP bait. These leaders refuse to be stepping stones for a President who treats alliances as disposable and who governs with an ethnic lens that reduces national leadership to sectional patronage.
The political temperature in the north is rising. There’s a palpable sense that the days of being ridden into power and then shoved into political irrelevance are over. Tinubu’s treatment of Vice President Shettima has become a cautionary example, a mirror of what could befall others who accept similar roles in the President’s shadow.
In response, many northern leaders are coalescing around the ADC, seeing in it not just a party but a movement. A movement to rescue the nation from the grip of sectional governance, political hijack, and the democratic regression that now defines the Tinubu administration. The North is signaling a clear intent: to no longer be pawns in a game rigged by tribal favoritism and autocratic consolidation.
As 2027 draws near, one thing is clear, the coalition winds are gathering. And President Tinubu, once the political maestro, may find himself playing a solo performance to an empty theatre.
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