VP Shettima’s remarks not about Rivers crisis or Tinubu’s actions – Presidency

The Presidency says Vice-President Kashim Shettima’s remarks at the Mohammed Adoke’s book launch on Thursday are not in any way a criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s actions on declaration of state of emergency in Rivers.
Mr Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Office of the Vice President,,made this known at a news conference on Friday in Abuja,
“The Office of the Vice-President has noted with serious concern the gross misrepresentation of remarks made by Shettima during the public presentation of the book.
” The launch of the book titled “OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block” by Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), held at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
” Certain online news outlets and individuals have distorted the Vice-President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda.
” They twisted 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.
” This sensational reporting strips the Vice-President’s remarks of their proper context.
“It entures into fiction by drawing false equivalence between his personal experience and the state of emergency declared in Rivers State, as well as the subsequent suspension of Gov. Siminalayi Fubara by President Tinubu,” he said.
Nkwocha said Shettima’s comments at the book launch were made within the context of acknowledging the author’s professional conduct during his tenure as Attorney-General of the Federation.
He said the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by the President without reservation.
“Shettima stands in loyal concert with 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.”
He added that the remarks were intended as a discourse on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution and highlight how complex federal-state tensions have been managed through legal mechanism.
” For the avoidance of doubt, President Bola 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.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Shettima on Thursday in Abuja recounted his odeal under the administration of the former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He made the revelation at the public presentation of a book titled, ” OPL 245: Inside Story of the $1.3 billion Nigeria Oil Block, “authored by the former Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke.
According to Shettima, in the last four years of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, I was the most demonized person, I was the public enemy number one.
” There are two gentlemen seated here. Certain decisions are taken in a very rear peace circle. The President, the Vice President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
” In one of such conclaves, former President Goodluck Jonathan with whom we have sheath the sword and have now recalibrated our relationship was muting the idea of removing this Borno governor.
” Aminu Tambuwal, the then Speaker of the House of Representatives had the courage to tell the President that your Excellency, you don’t have the powers to remove an elected councillor.
” The President was still not convinced, he muted the idea at the Federal Executive Council, ” Shettima said.
” He (Mr Adoke) told the then President that Mr President you do not have the powers to remove a sitting governor not even a councillor.
” They sought for the opinion of another SAN in the cabinet, Kabiru Turaki, who said I’m concurring with the opinion of my senior colleague.
” That was how the matter was laid to rest but that was how my relationship with Mr Adoke and Aminu Tambuwal became eternally sealed. “
Nkwocha said the Vice-President comments extemporaneously, focused on the importance of public officials documenting their stewardship and on the enduring principle of accountability in public service.
” His historical references were made to illustrate the principled stands taken by past public servants, as well as his personal ties to Mohammed Bello Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
He insisted that the situation is not comparable to that of the North East under the Jonathan administration, where violent non-state actors were directly challenging the sovereignty of the Nigerian state.
” The situation demanded unified action by both federal and state authorities to confront terrorism.
” In contrast, President Tinubu acted strictly within constitutional limits and in consultation with relevant stakeholders to preserve democratic institutions and restore order in Rivers State.
” Nigeria’s laws provide a clear framework for addressing such matters. Section 305(3)(c) of the Constitution authorises extraordinary measures when there is “a breakdown of public order.
” And public safety in the federation or any part thereof to such extent as to require extraordinary measures to restore peace and security.
” The situation in Rivers State clearly met constitutional threshold, with persistent politically motivated violence, systematic attacks on federal institutions, and near-complete paralysis of governance—conditions intolerable in any democratic society.”
Nkwocha said that Tinubu acted with constitutional fidelity, adding that his proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, as required by Section 305(3).
” This cross-party consensus in suspending the government of Rivers State, led by Sim Fubara, reflects a shared understanding among our elected representatives that the situation had reached a point of constitutional necessity, requiring immediate federal intervention.
” Clearly, without mincing words, the action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the Governor’s outright removal.
” To conflate suspension with removal is misleading. Therefore, interpreting Shettima’s remarks as commentary on current events is either a wilful misrepresentation or a deliberate neglect of constitutional context.” (NAN)