•Shettima, Fubara and Tinubu
The Office of the Vice President has dismissed claims linking Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent remarks to the political situation in Rivers State.
In a statement released today by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), the Vice President’s remarks were described as historical in nature and unrelated to recent federal actions in Rivers State.
The vice president had spoken at the public presentation of a book, “OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block”, by Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), in Abuja yesterday, reports Daily Trust.
During his speech, Shettima referenced past efforts under the Goodluck Jonathan administration to remove him as governor of Borno State during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency.
According to Nkwocha, some media outlets have misconstrued Shettima’s account as a commentary on the federal government’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Nkwocha said such a comparison was unfounded and misleading, stating that the president did not remove Fubara from office.
He clarified that Shettima’s remarks were in the context of acknowledging Adoke’s role as a public official and did not amount to commentary on current political events.
The statement said: “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, then as governor of Borno State, in the most intense and critical phase of insurgency in the North East region of the country.
“The sensational reporting disappointingly tried to erect a highly mendacious argument about the state of emergency declared in Rivers State and the subsequent suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara by His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We wish to state categorically that Vice President Shettima’s comments were made within the specific context of acknowledging the author’s past professional conduct during his tenure as Attorney General of the Federation. His remarks were historical references to events that occurred during the Jonathan administration, and constituted nothing more than an intellectual discourse on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution.
“This rare moment of retrospection was purely illustrative, intended to demonstrate how our constitutional democracy has matured within the capacity to resolve complex federal-state tensions through established legal mechanisms.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional action taken was suspension, and not outright removal. It was part of the measures implemented, including the state of emergency declared, in response to the grave circumstances surrounding the polity in Rivers State at the time.
“It is more so considering the unprecedented situation where the State House of Assembly complex was under demolition and the governor was facing a looming threat of impeachment (outright removal from office) from the embattled members of the state legislature.”
While backing the legality of President Tinubu’s intervention in Rivers State, Nkwocha noted that it was done in accordance with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution following security threats and political instability in the state.
“President Tinubu followed the constitutional process with honest precision. The President’s proclamation properly invoked Section 305(2), which was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly,” he stated.
Media and political actors were therefore urged to avoid politicising Shettima’s speech or fabricating conflict within the administration.
“Vice President Shettima stands in loyal concert with President Tinubu in implementing these difficult but necessary actions to safeguard our democracy.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” the statement added.
