Shettima Forced to Recant on Tinubu’s Suspension of Fubara, claims Labour Party
Shettima Forced to Recant on Tinubu's Suspension of Fubara, claims Labour Party The National Caretaker Committee (NCC) of the Labour Party (LP) asserted on Saturday that Vice-President Kashim Shettima may have faced pressure to elucidate that his recent remarks regarding a President's authority to dismiss a duly elected state governor were not an affront to President Bola Tinubu.
Shettima, erstwhile Governor of Borno State, last Thursday recounted an episode from 2013 when former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, and former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello-Adoke (SAN), cautioned former President Goodluck Jonathan against purported plans to oust certain governors, including Shettima, amidst insurgency turmoil in the North-East geopolitical region.
The Vice-President, during the unveiling of the book “OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block,” authored by Bello-Adoke, narrated how Tambuwal and the former AGF explicitly informed Jonathan that he lacked the authority to dismiss a governor, not even a councillor, from office.
The discourse, presented at a juncture when President Tinubu announced a state of emergency in Rivers State and subsequently suspended Governor Sim Fubara for six months, sparked speculation over whether Shettima was indeed critiquing the President's maneuvers. However, on Friday, the Vice-President’s office swiftly intervened, elucidating that Shettima merely alluded to a historical context with disparate circumstances and distinct actors, unconnected to Tinubu's current decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State to avert Fubara's impeachment.
Responding to the development through the Special Adviser, Media, to the Chairman of the NCC, Mr. Ken Asogwa, the LP criticized the “rapid retraction” by Shettima, asserting that the former governor and current Vice-President might have been “compelled” to issue the clarification. “If someone of Shettima’s stature—endowed with immunity from prosecution and other ancillary protections of his office—cannot freely articulate a factual opinion without being coerced into a retraction, then it is a damning indictment of the human rights landscape under the current administration,” a statement issued on behalf of the Chairman, Senator Nenadi Usman, partly read. It further observed, “What is profoundly concerning is the swiftness and fervor with which the Vice-President has been impelled to retract his statements. The question arises: Who is exerting pressure on the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? “Indeed, it is unsurprising that Nigeria continues its descent to the nadir of human rights rankings across Africa.” The LP noted, “It is disingenuous for the Vice-President’s aides to feign ignorance of Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)—which governs the proclamation of a state of emergency—remaining unchanged since 2013. That section bestows no authority whatsoever upon the President to dismiss a sitting governor under any guise, including the declaration of emergency rule.
“Vice-President Shettima’s recognition of that principled stance, particularly as it pertained to his tenure as Governor of Borno State, was a commendable display of candor—until a subsequent statement from his office awkwardly attempted to dissociate his remarks from the prevailing situation in Rivers State.” It further declared, “We laud Vice-President Shettima for his rare moment of integrity in highlighting what was evidently an unconstitutional act—the unlawful dismissal of Governor Siminalayi Fubara earlier in March under the guise of political turmoil and law and order breakdown by President Bola Tinubu.
“We reiterate our commendation to Vice-President Shettima for momentarily speaking truth to power. However, we strongly urge those manipulating events behind the scenes to desist from undermining the dignity of the Vice-President's office. Such actions are not only disrespectful to the individual but also to the institution he embodies and the constitution he vowed to uphold.”
