No Link Between VP Shettima’s Book Launch Speech and Fubara Suspension – Presidency
The Office of the Vice President has refuted claims that Senator Kashim Shettima’s remarks at the launch of Mohammed Bello Adoke’s book were critical of President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the political crisis in Rivers State.
In a statement released by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications, the Vice President’s comments were described as “grossly misrepresented” by certain online platforms with a “mischievous agenda.”
“Certain online news outlets and individuals have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda, twisting his account of how the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan considered removing him from office—then as Governor of Borno State—at the height of the insurgency in the North East region,” the statement read.
The Vice President’s remarks, according to his office, were “historical references to events during the Jonathan administration and were intended as a discourse on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution.”
The statement also clarified that “President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.”
It further stressed: “To conflate suspension with removal is misleading. Therefore, interpreting Senator Shettima’s remarks as commentary on current events is either a wilful misrepresentation or a deliberate neglect of constitutional context.”
“The Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by [President Tinubu’s actions] without reservation,” it concluded.
