From Ismail Omipidan, Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) stakeholders in Borno State, met recently to assess its state of affairs, withe a view to strategising ahaed of the 2027 presidential election. And at the end of the meeting, they resolved to throw their weight behind Vice President Kashim Shettima, expressing hope that he will retain his position if President Bola Tinubu wins a second term in 2027.
Since 2015, at the round of every election, the issue of the fight against Boko Haram insurgency dominate political space.
Before 2015, the fight against Boko Haram insurgency was a major political issue, with the two major political parties at the time, APC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accusing each other of being allegedly behind the attacks.
The group’s activities were so intense that its negative impact was felt in states outside the North-East, including the nation’s capital, Abuja, thereby heightening tension and apprehension ahead of the poll at the time.
But six weeks to the presidential election, the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration reduced significantly the potency of the group. Pundits however posit that, if the administration had done what it did in the six weeks about a year or two before then, it would have been difficult for the opposition then to use it as a campaign tool.
During the electioneering, the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, who eventually won the contest, promised to take out Boko Haram completely. And once the election was won and lost, the Buhari-led government matched words with action in its resolve to rout the insurgents, to the extent that in a matter of months, Nigerians, especially those in the North-East and in Borno in particular, began feeling the impact of the reinvigorated Nigerian army in its fight against Boko Haram insurgents.
Under the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, the special military force, set up to combat insurgency in the North-East was known as “Operation Zaman lafiya (meaning, let Peace Reign.)”
However, Nigerians knew little peace at the time as the first three years under Jonathan, saw Boko Haram insurgents going on rampage, claiming territories, sacking military formations, capturing military hardware, as they had more like a field day.
But with the appointment of Lt. General Tukur Buratai (rtd) as the then Chief of Army Staff (COAS) by former President Muhammadu Buhari, he renamed it, “Operation Lafiya Dole, (meaning, Peace at all Cost.)” That was in July 2015.
And to underscore the seriousness of the operation, the army at the time did not only take the battle to the insurgents, Buratai and the Theatre Commanders, firstly Major-General Hassan Umaru (rtd) and subsequently Lt – General Leo Irabor (rtd) at the time, began leading the operations themselves, as against the previous practice where top military brass remained in Abuja to dish out orders, without properly equipping the soldiers on the field, let alone being on ground to lead operations.
And in a matter of months, Nigerians in Kano, Abuja and Kaduna, who before the 2015 presidential election, were usually afraid of going to worship centres, began to attend Friday and Sunday religious activities without fear. Most of the barricades that were common feature in these cities also gave way and have not returned since then. But recently, concerns were being raised that the insurgents were regrouping, a development that may have given rise to the stakeholders’ meeting, held on Sunday, April 13, 2025.
Expectedly, the meeting addressed the issue, and urged the President Tinubu-led administration to pay more attention to road infrastructure in the region, with a view to improving security and stimulate economic growth in the region.
They equally called for the continuation oil exploration in the North-East, specifically, oil exploration activities in the Kolmani and Lake Chad Basin areas.
The stakeholders commended Governor Umara Zulum’s efforts in combating insurgency and rebuilding the state, urging him to remain focused on his mission to liberate the state from terrorism and criminality, expressing “total confidence” in his administration.
Historically, until 2015, Borno State has never been in the same party with the government at the centre. Therefore, any time election was approaching, the need for Borno to be brought into the mainstream politics was usually the campaign thrust of the opposition party in the state.
Like the opposition NPN did in 1983, in the build up to the 2015 electioneering, the PDP, which is the major opposition party in the state since 1999, rallied most Borno elites together and impressed it on them to see reason to kick out the APC’s government in the state, and support the PDP so that the party could form government at the state level.
The PDP promoters at the time said it was only when the party was allowed to form the government in Borno State that the state could enjoy the type of federal presence it deserves, and it was the only time it could get the full backing of the federal government in its fight against insurgency in the state.
Interestingly, former governor, Ali Modu Sheriff’s defection to the PDP at the time, was seen as a major morale booster, for the PDP’s quest to win the state, ahead of 2015, with Sheriff himself boasting to former President, Goodluck Jonathan that he would ensure he delivers the state to him and to the PDP.
But by the time the presidential election was won and lost in March 2015, the PDP’s quest to govern the state made little or no meaning to an average Borno person, as the few coverts it had gotten saw no further need to continue to support the PDP, since the APC which they intend to send packing, had won the presidential election.
Also, former Governor Kashim Shettima, who was then a governorship candidate of the APC, seeking a re-election had expressed confidence that the APC-led federal government would not forsake the state. And since 2015, the APC appears to have lived up to expectations.
In what appeared to be a response to potential political realignments ahead of the 2027 elections, the recent stakeholders meeting also resolved that Borno shall remain in APC with no merger or change of political party. They cautioned party members against actions that could undermine the party’s image or create divisions within its ranks.
The stakeholders specifically called on APC members to “discontenance the ongoing moves by some elements within the party to cause disunity.”
The stakeholders, also threw their weight behind Vice President Kashim Shettima, ahead of 2027.
The endorsement was part of resolutions reached during the recent stakeholders’ meeting, held at the Government House in Maiduguri.
In their 10-point resolutions, the gathering, which reaffirmed the state chapter’s support for the APC, also declared loyalty to President Tinubu and Governor Babagana Zulum.
The meeting brought together party members including APC Deputy National Chairman (North) Ali Bukar Dalori, Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Senators Mohammed Ali Ndume and Kaka Shehu Lawan, former governor Senator Maina Ma’aji Lawan, and former ambassadors Baba Ahmed Jidda and Dauda Danladi. Also present were members of the Borno State House of Assembly, local government chairmen, and various party executives.
They commended Vice President Shettima for his commitment to President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and urged him to continue supporting the administration’s policies and expressed optimism that Tinubu would reappoint Shettima as his running mate in the 2027 elections.
The meeting declared “total and unalloyed loyalty” to President Tinubu, and prayed for his success, just as Governor Zulum was also commended for his efforts in fighting insurgency and the stakeholders urged him to remain focused on securing the state.
The resolutions were formally signed by APC Borno State Chairman, Bello Ayuba and State Secretary, Mustapha Loskuri.