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Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Monday held a closed-door meeting with former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, former Jigawa State Governor Abubakar Badaru and other political figures at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) prepares for the 2027 presidential election.
The delegation arrived at the State House at about 4 p.m. and proceeded to the Vice-President’s wing, according to reports by Vanguard and The PUNCH. The group was identified as leaders of the National Directorate of Arewa for Asiwaju Movement, a political support group associated with President Bola Tinubu’s political movement.
The specific purpose of the meeting was not immediately disclosed. Although the visit was described in the reports as a courtesy call, no detailed account of the discussions or any decisions reached was available at the time of publication.
The meeting took place at a significant point in the ruling party’s preparations for the next presidential election, with the inauguration of its Presidential Campaign Council and a planned campaign flag-off approaching.
However, the timing alone does not establish that the meeting was convened specifically to discuss campaign strategy.
Yahaya Bello, Badaru Among Delegation Members
Yahaya Bello and Abubakar Badaru were among the prominent political figures associated with the delegation received at the Presidential Villa.
Bello governed Kogi State from 2016 to 2024, while Badaru served as governor of Jigawa State from 2015 to 2023. Both are former state chief executives with political experience in their respective regions.
Former Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong was also spotted at the Villa. Other figures reported to be present included the Director-General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd.), and Hadiza Bala-Usman, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination.
The presence of former governors, serving government officials and political figures brought together individuals with different roles in Nigeria’s political and administrative landscape.
Nevertheless, the available reports did not provide a complete list of every participant or establish the precise contribution of each person to the discussions.
The delegation’s identification as leaders of the National Directorate of Arewa for Asiwaju Movement provides some indication of its political association. It does not, on its own, establish the agenda of the meeting or the commitments made by those involved.
Shettima Was Also Involved in a Separate Meeting
The delegation arrived while Shettima was attending another meeting at the President’s wing of the State House.
That earlier engagement reportedly began at about 2 p.m. and included the Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Maiha, and Professor Attahiru Jega, Special Adviser to the President and Coordinator of the Presidential Livestock Reform.
Jega previously served as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the body responsible for organizing federal and state elections in Nigeria.
The reports did not establish that the earlier meeting and the later engagement with the political delegation were part of the same programme. The two meetings should therefore be treated as separate engagements unless further information from the Presidency confirms otherwise.
The livestock reform portfolio represented at the earlier meeting also points to a different area of government activity from the political delegation’s reported visit. No details were provided to suggest that livestock policy formed part of the discussions involving Bello, Badaru and the other political figures.
APC Presidential Campaign Council Set for Inauguration
The meeting comes two days before the planned inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, scheduled for Wednesday, October 14, at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja.
Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Director-General of the campaign council, announced the date after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, according to the reports.
The campaign council is expected to provide an organisational structure for the party’s presidential campaign. Its inauguration is an important scheduled event in the APC’s preparations for the 2027 election, although the full campaign arrangements were yet to be released at the time of the reports.
The party has also announced plans to begin its presidential campaign activities in Kaduna State on October 24. Yari said the campaign would subsequently move to Port Harcourt and Maiduguri.
The complete timetable was expected to be made public after the campaign council’s inauguration.
These announcements provide the immediate political context for Shettima’s meeting with the delegation. With campaign structures being organized and public engagements being planned, consultations involving political figures are likely to attract attention.
Still, there was no official confirmation that the closed-door meeting was directly connected to the campaign council, the Kaduna flag-off or the planning of subsequent campaign events.
Tinubu’s Re-Election Bid and the 2027 Political Calendar
President Tinubu is seeking another term in office in the presidential election scheduled for January 16, 2027, according to the reports.
As the election approaches, political parties are expected to organise campaign teams, engage supporters and communicate their plans to voters. For the APC, the announced inauguration of the Presidential Campaign Council and the planned campaign events represent parts of its preparations for the election.
The meeting involving Shettima and the former governors occurred within this broader political period. However, it would be premature to conclude that the participants discussed particular appointments, campaign responsibilities, endorsements or electoral arrangements without a statement or other reliable evidence confirming such details.
The distinction matters because a political meeting can serve several purposes, including a courtesy visit, consultation, party coordination or discussion of government-related issues. The identities of the participants and the timing of their visit do not independently establish which of these purposes applied in this case.
For now, the confirmed information is that the delegation visited the Presidential Villa, was associated with the National Directorate of Arewa for Asiwaju Movement, and met with Shettima behind closed doors. The precise substance of the discussions remains unclear.
What Is Known About the Meeting?
The available reporting establishes several details about Monday’s engagement.
First, the delegation arrived at the Presidential Villa at approximately 4 p.m. and proceeded to the Vice-President’s wing. Second, the delegation included former governors Yahaya Bello and Abubakar Badaru, while Simon Lalong, Buba Marwa and Hadiza Bala-Usman were also reported at the Villa.
Third, the visit came shortly before the APC’s planned campaign council inauguration on October 14 and its announced campaign flag-off in Kaduna on October 24.
What remains unconfirmed is equally important. Neither the reports nor the information available at the time of publication disclosed the detailed agenda, the outcome of the discussions or whether any specific political agreement was reached.
The Presidency or members of the delegation may provide further clarification about the purpose of the engagement. Until then, claims that the meeting produced a new political arrangement or a particular campaign decision should not be treated as established facts.
Further Details Awaited
Shettima’s meeting with Bello, Badaru and other political figures has drawn attention because it occurred as the APC moved closer to formalising its presidential campaign structure for 2027.
The scheduled campaign council inauguration and planned events in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Maiduguri offer a clear picture of the party’s announced campaign timetable. They do not, however, reveal what was discussed behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa.
CentralNewsNG will update this report if the Presidency or members of the delegation release further information about the meeting and its outcome.
