Vice President Kashim Shettima has revealed that former President Goodluck Jonathan once attempted to remove him from office when he was Governor of Borno State. He said the move was blocked by then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke.
Shettima made the claim on Thursday during the public presentation of a book titled “OPL 245: Inside Story of the \$1.3 Billion Nigeria Oil Block”, authored by Adoke in Abuja.
The Vice President said his fallout with Jonathan stemmed from the worsening insecurity in Borno State, especially after the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls from Chibok by Boko Haram in April 2014. Shettima was governor of Borno State from 2011 to 2015.
“I was the most demonized person in Nigeria during the last four years of Jonathan’s administration,” Shettima said. “I was public enemy number one.”
He recalled that during a high-level meeting involving top government officials, Jonathan suggested removing him as governor. But Tambuwal stood his ground and told the president that he had no constitutional power to remove an elected official — not even a councillor.
Adoke, who was Minister of Justice at the time, backed Tambuwal’s position and told the president the same. Another senior lawyer in the cabinet, Kabiru Turaki, also agreed with the legal opinion.
According to Shettima, it was this strong legal advice that stopped Jonathan’s move and sealed his long-standing bond with both Adoke and Tambuwal.
He also praised Adoke for his courage and for choosing to forgive those who wronged him during his time in public service.
The event also featured discussions around the book, which focuses on the controversial OPL 245 oil deal — a \$1.3 billion transaction involving Royal Dutch Shell, Italy’s Eni, and Nigeria’s oil block believed to hold over nine billion barrels of crude.