Hannatu Musawa, Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, has warned that any attempt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to drop Vice-President Kashim Shettima ahead of the 2027 presidential election could have serious electoral consequences for the ruling party.
Musawa gave the warning while reacting to speculations that the APC was considering replacing Shettima with a Christian running mate for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a bid to alter the religious composition of the party’s presidential ticket.
Speaking during an interview on MIC ON, a podcast hosted by Seun Okinbaloye and monitored by Truth Live News, the minister cautioned that tampering with the current religious and regional balance of the ticket could alienate critical northern voters.
“If we toy with changing the construct of what we have now, it is a problem,” Musawa warned.
“If there is no Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri Muslim on that ticket, it creates a hurdle. That’s the reality of the way the people think.”
She explained that such conversations often reflect a poor understanding of northern political realities, stressing that politics in the region is deeply intertwined with identity, civic duty, and historical consciousness.
According to her, the north remains a decisive force in Nigeria’s political calculations due to its long-standing political awareness and mass participation in elections.
“I come from a very rural area in Katsina State. All my family and all the people that I know who have never been to school have a radio.
“They will tell you about the Russian Revolution. BBC Hausa did what it was supposed to do,” she said.
Musawa noted that political engagement in the north is intense and deeply valued, warning that politicians who ignore this reality do so at their own risk.
“When it comes to politics, the northern area really thrives on politics. That is the one thing that they feel they really have a lot of control over and power.
So when you don’t understand politics in the way that they do, you come at your own peril,” she added.
She further described voting in many northern communities as an almost sacred civic exercise and a powerful means of influencing national outcomes.
“They wait every four years to be able to line up. A man with his four wives and 30 children, everybody is going to line up, because that’s where they know that they can have an impact in positioning Nigeria. For them, it is almost like an identity,” Musawa said.
On the opposition, the minister downplayed the ability of rival parties, particularly the African Democratic Congress (ADC), to defeat the Tinubu–Shettima ticket in 2027, describing the opposition as fragmented and driven largely by personal ambition.
“To be fair, I think all of the members of the opposition are formidable people,” she said.
“But honestly, especially the way the opposition is emerging, I don’t see how the opposition as it is now can unseat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima.”
She argued that the opposition space is overcrowded, with several leading figures competing for the same position, a situation she described as a “recipe for disaster.”
Musawa acknowledged former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as a major political force but expressed doubts over the feasibility of a joint ticket involving Atiku and Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
“Of course, Atiku Abubakar is a factor because he is a patriot and a formidable Nigerian,” she said.
“If you put Mr Peter Obi together with Atiku Abubakar, well, somebody has to be president.”She questioned how such an arrangement would satisfy competing ambitions and voter expectations, noting that neither configuration—Atiku as president or Obi as president—would be easily accepted across regional and political divides.
Musawa also dismissed claims that former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, could significantly weaken APC support in the North-West, saying she does not believe he has the capacity to seriously “injure” President Tinubu’s vote base in the region.
