The Presidency has refuted claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State involving Governor Siminalayi Fubara and President Bola Tinubu.
In a statement on Friday, Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), described such interpretations as “gross misrepresentation” and a “reckless endangerment of national cohesion.”
Shettima made the remarks during the launch 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.
Nkwocha clarified that the Vice President was referencing a past event during the Goodluck Jonathan administration, when there were alleged attempts to remove him as Borno State governor amid the Boko Haram insurgency. He stressed that Shettima’s comments were strictly historical and not related to current political events.
“Some outlets irresponsibly twisted the Vice President’s reference to that period as a veiled criticism of President Tinubu’s recent constitutional intervention in Rivers State,” the statement said. “That interpretation is false and misleading.”
Nkwocha emphasized that Shettima’s remarks were made in the context of acknowledging Adoke’s conduct in office and reflecting on Nigeria’s democratic evolution.
He further clarified that President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara but only suspended him—one of several constitutional steps taken under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution to address the political instability and security challenges in Rivers State, including a threatened impeachment and the demolition of the State Assembly complex.
“President Tinubu followed the constitutional process with precision, and the declaration of a state of emergency was ratified by a bipartisan majority in the National Assembly,” the statement added.
Nkwocha urged the media to avoid distorting public statements or stoking division within the administration, reiterating that Vice President Shettima fully supports President Tinubu in protecting Nigeria’s democracy.