Nigeria, June 27 -- Something unusual happened on Sunday, June 15, 2025, in Gombe. At what was described as a high-level meeting of APC stakeholders from the North-East, a deliberate omission stirred the air-Vice President Kashim Shettima's name was conspicuously left out of the endorsement roll call. It wasn't an oversight. It was a statement. A deviation from tradition that instantly ignited rumours and suspicions that a plan might be in motion to replace him ahead of the 2027 general election.

That the omission happened in Shettima's own backyard-his political home turf-made it even more suspicious. The defense from the presidency, cloaked in constitutional technicalities that the president alone reserves the right to nominate a runni...