The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s latest feedback at a ebook launch had been directed at President Bola Tinubu or linked to the political turmoil in Rivers State.
In a press release issued on Friday, July 11, the Senior Particular Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Workplace of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, mentioned Shettima’s remarks had been intentionally misinterpreted by sections of the media.
He described such experiences as a “gross misrepresentation” and warned that they risked stoking division and undermining nationwide unity.
The Vice President was talking on the public presentation of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block, a ebook written by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN. The occasion was held on the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Thursday.
In keeping with Nkwocha, Shettima had solely recounted a private political expertise in the course of the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, when there have been strikes to take away him as Borno State Governor amid the Boko Haram insurgency.
The reference, he clarified, was made solely to focus on Adoke’s skilled conduct throughout that turbulent interval.
“Some information retailers have irresponsibly twisted the Vice President’s account of how the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan floated the concept of eradicating him from workplace, then as governor of Borno State, in essentially the most intense and demanding part of insurgency within the North East area of the nation,” Nkwocha mentioned.
He added, “The sensational reporting disappointingly tried to erect a extremely mendacious argument in regards to the state of emergency declared in Rivers State and the next suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara by His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Nkwocha mentioned Shettima’s feedback had been clearly historic and meant for instance how Nigeria’s democracy has developed in resolving federal-state tensions by means of constitutional means.
READ ALSO: Shettima to APC, PDP, ADC, NNPP: What Binds Us Collectively Surpasses What Divides Us
“This uncommon second of retrospection was purely illustrative,” he defined. “It was by no means meant to replicate on or criticise President Tinubu’s latest actions in Rivers State.”
Some experiences had interpreted Shettima’s remarks as a refined swipe at Tinubu, following the President’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers and the suspension of Governor Fubara. Nkwocha mentioned this was false and deceptive.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu didn’t take away Governor Fubara from workplace. The constitutional motion taken was suspension, and never outright removing.
“It was a part of the measures carried out in response to the grave circumstances surrounding the polity in Rivers State on the time,” he clarified.
Nkwocha pointed to the demolition of the State Home of Meeting advanced and the specter of impeachment confronted by the Governor as elements that necessitated federal intervention.
He insisted the President acted inside his constitutional powers.
“President Tinubu adopted the constitutional course of with sincere precision. The President’s proclamation correctly invoked Part 305(2), which was subsequently ratified by an awesome bipartisan majority within the Nationwide Meeting,” he mentioned.
Nkwocha urged media organisations and political actors to chorus from politicising Shettima’s remarks or creating rifts inside the administration.
“Vice President Shettima stands shoulder to shoulder with President Tinubu in implementing these tough however indispensable actions to safeguard our democracy,” he added.
