By Shaagee Orkula
Vice-President Kashim Shettima has expressed confidence that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will record a landslide victory in Delta State in the 2027 presidential election, singling out Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and other key political actors as critical to the party’s prospects in the state.
Shettima made the remarks at the 14th National Caucus meeting of the APC, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, where he emphasised the need for the ruling party to consolidate and sustain its growing dominance across the country.
While warning against complacency, the vice-president stressed that maintaining political success requires discipline, cohesion, and the careful management of internal party democracy. He cautioned party leaders that history offers lessons on how internal weaknesses, rather than external threats, can undermine even the most powerful political movements.
“Your excellencies, Rome was not destroyed by outside invaders; Rome was destroyed by the complacency of the Romans,” Shettima said. “To succeed is much easier than to maintain that success.”
Highlighting the APC’s expanding national footprint, Shettima reeled out figures showing the party’s strength across the six geopolitical zones. According to him, the APC now controls the entire South-South and North-Central regions, five of the seven states in the North-West, four of the six states in the South-West, and four of the six states in the North-East.
“Certainly, we have become a force of nature,” he declared.
In a pointed reference to Delta State, Shettima singled out Governor Oborevwori and other influential figures as evidence of the APC’s growing dominance in the state. “Who are the power brokers in Delta State besides Governor Sheriff?” he asked.
He further cited the defection of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) former vice-presidential candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, as well as the presence of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, former Deputy President of the Senate, as key assets for the APC in Delta.
“With Senator Okowa within our fold and Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, for God’s sake, how do you expect us to lose in Delta?” Shettima said, adding that similar political configurations could be replicated in other states of the federation.
The vice-president reassured governors and political leaders who recently joined the APC that they had found a welcoming and stable political home. He also expressed satisfaction with the growing interest of politicians across the country in joining the ruling party, projecting that the APC would remain electorally dominant beyond the 2027 general elections.