The Presidency has dismissed claims suggesting that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent remarks at a public event were a veiled criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the political crisis in Rivers State involving Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
In a statement on Friday, Stanley Nkwocha, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), described the interpretations circulating in some sections of the media as a “gross misrepresentation” and a “reckless endangerment of national cohesion.”
Shettima, while speaking at the public presentation of “OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block”, a book authored by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Thursday, had referenced a past constitutional dilemma during his tenure as Governor of Borno State under the Jonathan administration.
According to Nkwocha, the Vice President’s account was solely aimed at acknowledging Adoke’s professional conduct during a turbulent period in Nigeria’s history, and had no relation to the current political developments in Rivers State.
“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 peak of Boko Haram insurgency,” Nkwocha said.
He stressed that the Vice President’s remarks were meant to highlight Nigeria’s democratic evolution and the role of legal institutions in resolving governance crises—not to critique President Tinubu’s recent actions.
“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,” the statement noted.
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Nkwocha also addressed reports linking Shettima’s speech to the controversial state of emergency declared in Rivers State and the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office,” Nkwocha clarified. “The constitutional action taken was suspension, and not outright removal. It was part of broader emergency measures implemented in response to the grave circumstances in the state.”
He emphasized that the President’s intervention in Rivers was constitutionally grounded, invoking Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution to declare a state of emergency following political instability and threats to public safety—conditions ratified by a bipartisan majority in the National Assembly.
Nkwocha also referenced the attempted impeachment of Governor Fubara and the controversial demolition of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex, which he said justified the federal government’s intervention.
The statement concluded with a call on media professionals and political commentators to avoid manufacturing divisions within the Tinubu-Shettima administration.
“Vice President Shettima stands shoulder to shoulder with President Tinubu in implementing these difficult but indispensable actions to safeguard our democracy,” Nkwocha asserted.