The presidency has made it clear that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s comment at a book launch of a former Attorney General of the federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, has no link to the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State.
The presidency in a release by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, pointed out that the Vice President’s comment was totally misinterpreted.
“We wish to state categorically that Vice President Shettima’s comments were made within the context of acknowledging the author’s professional conduct during his tenure as Attorney General of the Federation—a tribute to his public service record,” Nkwocha said in a statement on Friday.
“We wish to state categorically that Vice President Shettima’s comments were made within the context of acknowledging the author’s professional conduct during his tenure as Attorney General of the Federation—a tribute to his public service record.
“His remarks were historical references to events during the Jonathan administration and were intended as a discourse on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution. They served to highlight how complex federal-state tensions have been managed through legal mechanisms and the country’s progress in that regard,” the statement read.
According to the release, “For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action, along with the declaration of a state of emergency, was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time. The situation was unprecedented, with the State House of Assembly complex under demolition and the Governor facing a looming threat of impeachment by aggrieved members of the legislature. No objective observer can deny that this decisive intervention by the President brought stability and calm to Rivers State.”
Recall, Shettima had at the launch of “OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block,” a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, said the ex-AGF was part of those who stopped ex-President Goodluck Jonathan from removing as a governor during the peak of insurgency in Borno State.
The vice president asserted that no President can remove an elected official, a remark many have linked to President Bola Tinubu’s suspension of Governor Fubara.
We wish to state categorically that Vice President Shettima’s comments were made within the context of acknowledging the author’s professional conduct during his tenure as Attorney General of the Federation—a tribute to his public service record. His remarks were historical references to events during the Jonathan administration and were intended as a discourse on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution. They served to highlight how complex federal-state tensions have been managed through legal mechanisms and the country’s progress in that regard.
