Vice President Kashim Shettima’s emergency rule comments have ignited a barrage of reactions as he declared that no President has the power to remove a democratically elected governor.
The Vice President’s comments have also fueled speculation about a growing rift with President Bola Tinubu, particularly as the President recently declared a state of emergency rule on Rivers State, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara in the process.
Speaking at a book launch in Abuja on July 10, 2025, Shettima delivered a pointed critique of presidential overreach which appears to address the controversial removal of Fubara.
Shettima’s speech, delivered during the presentation of “OPL 245: Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Nigeria Oil Block” by former Attorney-General Mohammed Adoke, has since been interpreted by many as a direct jab at Tinubu’s decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.
Drawing from his own experience as Borno State governor, where he escaped removal under former President Goodluck Jonathan, Shettima emphasized that no president has the legal authority to dismiss a sitting governor.
According to him, the then House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, told Jonathan that “Your Excellency, you don’t have the power to remove even a councillor of a local government”.
Jonathan insisted on Shettima’s removal and raised the topic at the Federal Executive Council, FEC.
Shettima added: “I admire Mr Mohammed Bello Adoke fundamentally for his courage, his conviction, and his capacity to stand for what he believes in.
“He told the then President, ‘Mr President, you do not have the power to remove the Governor’.”
Meanwhile, Shettima’s emergency rule comments, though indirect, have been seen as a rebuke of Tinubu’s recent move to suspend Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the entire Rivers State House of Assembly, appointing Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as sole administrator.
The development also comes amid reports of a strained relationship between Tinubu and Shettima.
Recall that reports emerged after an All Progressives Congress (APC) meeting in Gombe last month. During the meeting, party leaders endorsed Tinubu for a second term in 2027 without mentioning Shettima as his running mate, breaking from tradition and igniting speculation of a deliberate move to sideline the vice president.
However, in a swift move, the Presidency has reacted to the ongoing speculation about Shettima’s emergency rule comments, asserting that the Vice President’s remarks at the book launch have been misrepresented.
This was contained in a press statement issued by Stanley Nkwocha, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications.
The statement reads in part: “The Office of the Vice President has noted with stern concern the gross misrepresentation of the remarks made by His Excellency, 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), the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
“Some news outlets have irresponsibly twisted the Vice President’s account of how the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan floated the idea of removing him from office, then as governor of Borno State, in the most intense and critical phase of insurgency in the North East region of the country.
“The sensational reporting disappointingly tried to erect a highly mendacious argument about the state of emergency declared in Rivers State and the subsequent suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara by His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We wish to state categorically that Vice President Shettima’s comments were made within the specific context of acknowledging the author’s past professional conduct during his tenure as Attorney General of the Federation. His remarks were historical references to events that occurred during the Jonathan administration, and constituted nothing more than an intellectual discourse on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution.”
