The Office of the Vice President has described as gross misrepresentation, remarks made by Senator Kashim Shettima, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, during the public presentation of the book “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, 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.
Stanley Nkwocha Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications (Spokesman of the Vice President) In a statement described the insinuations as sensational reporting, which strips the Vice President’s remarks of their proper context, ventures 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 Governor Siminalayi Fubara by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Nkwocha said Vice President Shettima’s comments were made within the context of acknowledging the author’s professional conduct during his tenure as Attorney General of the Federation—a tribute to his public service record.
He said the VP’s remarks were historical references to events during the Jonathan administration and were intended as a discourse on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution.
According to him, the remarks served to highlight how complex federal-state tensions have been managed through legal mechanisms and the country’s progress in that regard.
For the avoidance of doubt, Nkwocha said President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office.
The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
