The Presidency on Friday dismissed reports suggesting that Vice President Kashim Shettima had drawn parallels between the crisis in Rivers State and events during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
In a statement issued by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), the government expressed “stern concern” over what it described as “gross misrepresentation” of the Vice President’s recent remarks.
Vice President Shettima had spoken at the public presentation of the book OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), held at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja on Thursday.
According to Nkwocha, some media outlets “irresponsibly twisted” Shettima’s account of how the Jonathan administration allegedly contemplated removing him as Borno State governor during the peak of the insurgency in the North East.
“These sensational reports 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 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the statement read.
Nkwocha clarified that Shettima’s comments were strictly historical, intended to acknowledge Adoke’s conduct as Attorney General during the Jonathan era, and to illustrate how Nigeria’s constitutional democracy has evolved to resolve federal-state tensions.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office,” Nkwocha stated, explaining that Fubara was suspended not removed as part of measures to address what the Presidency described as a breakdown of law and order in Rivers State.
The statement further argued that conditions in Rivers State, which included politically motivated violence, threats to the governor’s tenure, and attacks on federal institutions, justified the declaration of a state of emergency under constitutional provisions.
“President Tinubu followed the constitutional process with honest precision,” Nkwocha said, noting that the National Assembly ratified the proclamation by an overwhelming bipartisan majority.
He emphasized that comparing the Rivers situation to events during the Jonathan administration was inaccurate, since the earlier crisis involved violent insurgents challenging Nigeria’s sovereignty, whereas the Rivers matter involved a breakdown of political order.
“The Vice President’s speech was focused on the importance of public officials documenting their stewardship,” the statement concluded. “The cynical attempt to distort academic commentary into imagined criticism is not only deplorable but constitutes reckless endangerment of national cohesion.”
The Presidency urged media outlets and political actors to avoid misrepresenting statements and “fabricating nonexistent conflicts.”