The Presidency has dismissed speculations that Vice-President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments at a public event in Abuja were directed at President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the political crisis in Rivers State.
In a statement issued on Friday, Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice-President), said Shettima’s remarks were “strictly historical” and bore no connection to Tinubu’s decision to suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The clarification came after some media reports suggested that the Vice-President’s recollection of an alleged attempt by former President Goodluck Jonathan to remove him as Borno State governor was a veiled critique of Tinubu’s recent emergency proclamation in Rivers.
Speaking on Thursday at the launch of the memoir OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Nigerian Oil Blockwritten by former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, Shettima narrated how, during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency, the Jonathan administration considered removing him from office.
Vice-President Shettima said:
“During the Jonathan administration, there were high-level deliberations about removing me as governor because of the deteriorating security situation. It was the intervention of individuals like Aminu Tambuwal and Mohammed Adoke that stopped it. Tambuwal told President Jonathan to his face that he had no constitutional powers to remove a sitting governor.”
Nkwocha described any attempt to link the remarks to current events in Rivers State as a “gross misrepresentation.”
“Some news outlets have irresponsibly twisted the vice-president’s account of how the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan floated the idea of removing him from office during the most intense and critical phase of insurgency in the North-East,” Nkwocha stated.
“Such commentary amounts to a reckless endangerment of national cohesion and a deliberate misreading of the vice-president’s message. His remarks were purely historical references made to acknowledge the courage and professionalism of Mohammed Adoke.”
He further clarified that President Tinubu’s actions in Rivers State followed due constitutional process and were aimed at restoring stability, not removing an elected official.
“President Tinubu followed the constitutional process with honest precision. The president’s proclamation properly invoked Section 305(2) of the 1999 Constitution, which was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly,” Nkwocha said.
He emphasised that the action taken in Rivers was a temporary suspension, not a removal, and that it was misleading to interpret Shettima’s comments as a critique of Tinubu’s approach.
Nkwocha added: “Vice-President Shettima remains firmly aligned with the administration’s goals and has consistently demonstrated his commitment to national stability, constitutional order, and responsible leadership.”
He concluded by warning against the politicisation of the Vice-President’s remarks:
“Vice-President Shettima’s comments were made in good faith and should be appreciated in the proper historical context in which they were delivered. It is dangerous to politicise such statements, especially at a time when unity and clear-headedness are most needed.”
Chioma Kalu
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