Kashim Shettima
Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
The economist in the room — coordination, nutrition, and the North-East's recovery.
Born
2 September 1966, Maiduguri
Office
Vice President since 29 May 2023
Party
All Progressives Congress
Previously
Governor of Borno State, 2011–2019
Senate
Senator, Borno Central, 2019–2023
Education
MSc Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan
Vice President Kashim Shettima, GCON
Kashim Shettima Mustapha is the 15th Vice President of Nigeria, elected on the ticket with President Tinubu in 2023.
An agricultural economist by training, he was born in Maiduguri on 2 September 1966, took his first degree at the University of Maiduguri and a master's in Agricultural Economics at the University of Ibadan in 1990. He lectured, then spent years in banking before leaving the sector for public service in 2007.
He governed Borno State from 2011 to 2019 — the hardest governorship in the federation during those years, running a state at the centre of the insurgency while rebuilding schools, resettling displaced families and keeping an administration functioning under conditions no other governor faced.
He represented Borno Central in the Senate from 2019 to 2023 before being named the APC's vice-presidential candidate. As Vice President he chairs the National Economic Council, the constitutional body where the federal government and all 36 state governors coordinate economic policy.
Career timeline
1990
MSc, Agricultural Economics
University of Ibadan, after a first degree at the University of Maiduguri.
1990s–2007
Lecturer, then banker
An academic and banking career before leaving the sector for public service in 2007.
2011–2019
Governor of Borno State
Two terms governing at the epicentre of the insurgency — schools rebuilt, displaced families resettled, an administration kept running.
2019–2023
Senator, Borno Central
Elected on the APC platform to represent Borno Central in the National Assembly.
2023
Vice President of Nigeria
Sworn in 29 May 2023; chairs the National Economic Council.
2027
Standing again
Returning as the vice-presidential candidate on the Tinubu–Shettima ticket.
What the office actually does.
The Vice President's brief is coordination — between the federal government and the states, and between policy and the households it is meant to reach.
Chairman, National Economic Council
Chairs the constitutional body that brings together all 36 state governors, the Governor of the Central Bank and senior federal officials to align economic policy. In February 2026 he presided over a two-day NEC conference themed 'Delivering Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development'.
Nutrition and human capital
Has made child nutrition and human-capital development a signature portfolio, driving federal and state coordination on reducing stunting and malnutrition in Nigerian children.
The North-East's case, made nationally
Brings eight years of governing Borno through insurgency to the security and reconstruction conversation — resettlement, school rebuilding, and the economics of recovery.
Nigeria abroad
Represents the President at international summits and investment forums, carrying the reform story to the investors whose capital importation figures the administration now cites.
State–federal alignment
Works the seam where federal programmes meet state delivery — the same seam the YFT app's programme tracks are designed to route supporters through.
“Inclusive growth is not a slogan you announce in Abuja. It is something 36 states either deliver together, or fail to deliver at all.”
On the work of the National Economic Council
