Vice-President Kashim Shettima has challenged presidential candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi to subject their records in public office to scrutiny ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Shettima said political experience should not be measured by the number of years spent in public office but by tangible achievements, institutional development and the leaders produced by those seeking the presidency.
He spoke on Friday at the All Progressives Congress presidential rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where President Bola Tinubu and other senior APC leaders campaigned ahead of the 2027 election.
The Vice-President specifically questioned Atiku Abubakar’s claim to having the experience required to lead Nigeria, acknowledging his time in the Nigeria Customs Service and his eight-year tenure as vice-president between 1999 and 2007.
Shettima argued, however, that occupying public offices for years did not automatically translate into effective leadership.
He challenged Atiku to identify the institutions he had strengthened, political successors he had produced and structures that had endured beyond his personal political ambitions.
The Vice-President also questioned Atiku’s political influence in Adamawa State, his home state, citing the succession of governors since the return to democratic rule in 1999.
He said a presidential aspirant seeking to unite Nigeria must first demonstrate an ability to manage competing interests within his political constituency.
“Experience cannot be established merely by counting the years spent in public service,” Shettima said, arguing that leadership should produce lasting institutions and successors.
He contrasted Atiku’s record with Tinubu’s political structure in Lagos, pointing to former governors Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode and incumbent Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Shettima also criticised Atiku over his role in the privatisation of national assets during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, alleging irregularities and procedural abuses.
Turning to Peter Obi, the Vice-President accused the former Anambra State governor of losing the goodwill he previously enjoyed among Nigerians through what he described as misleading claims and “bogus statistics.”
He also criticised Obi’s economic prescriptions and recent political interventions, saying they had increasingly attracted suspicion rather than confidence.
Shettima said voters should assess all presidential candidates, including Tinubu, based on their records, achievements and shortcomings rather than the length of their political careers.
“The presidency is not a retirement banquet for long years in politics,” he said, adding that the position must be earned through ideas, competence, organisation, public confidence and demonstrable results.
The remarks came as the APC intensified its campaign in the South-South, with Tinubu also criticising Obi’s record as Anambra governor and questioning Atiku’s leadership credentials.
Tinubu used his appearance in Akwa Ibom to highlight his administration’s projects and announced the establishment of the Ibom Deep Sea Port, while APC leaders urged voters in the state to support the president’s re-election bid.
