Outrage broke out in Maiduguri on Monday after the All Progressives Congress (APC) omitted the photograph of Vice-President Kashim Shettima from a banner displayed at the party’s North-East Zonal Public Hearing on the amendment of its constitution.
The omission sparked anger among party stakeholders and delegates, forcing the Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdulkarim Lawan, to openly protest what he described as a disrespectful slight against the Vice-President.
The banner, prepared for the high-profile event, featured images of President Bola Tinubu, the five APC governors from the North-East zone and the party’s National Legal Adviser. However, Shettima’s photograph was conspicuously absent, despite his position as Nigeria’s Vice-President and a leading APC figure from the region.
Observers noted that the incident revived memories of a similar episode in Gombe State last year, where the Vice-President’s image was also reportedly excluded from an APC event—an action that allegedly led to a fracas and the abrupt termination of the meeting.
Addressing delegates at the Maiduguri gathering, Lawan, Nigeria’s longest-serving Speaker, expressed shock over the development and warned that such actions could fuel avoidable tension within the party.
“Why would the Vice-President’s picture not be included in the banner? This was what created the fracas in Gombe, and it is repeating itself here in Borno. I do not know the motive of the organisers, but it is not right,” he said.
He added, “How can the organisers exclude the picture of a sitting Vice-President, who is from Borno and the North-East zone?”
Lawan’s remarks drew thunderous applause from the audience, underscoring widespread disapproval of the omission among APC members present at the event.
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