War looms as VP Shettima blasts Tinubu for suspending governor Fubara

Serious war is about to erupt between President Bola Tinubu and his Vice, Senator Kashim Shettima, as the latter on Thursday, berated his principal for removing the governor of Rivers State Sim Fubara.

This medium reported that Fubara was on March 18, 2025, suspended from office by President Bola Tinubu over the political crisis involving the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nysom Wike and some members of the State House of Assembly.

Fubara has been out of office ever since, with a retired military general acting in his stead.

Meanwhile, Shettima, during a book launch in Abuja on Thursday afternoon, argued that there was no constitutional basis for a president to remove an elected governor in Nigeria, drawing from his experience when he was a governor to tackle the perils of such extra-constitutional decision.

“Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was floating the idea of removing this Borno governor (pointing at himself), and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, had the courage to tell the president: You don’t have the power to remove an elected councillor,” Mr Shettima said at the book launch of former attorney-general Bello Adoke.

He also hailed Adoke for using his role as the attorney-general at the time to stop former President Jonathan’s attempt to remove governors of northeastern states over insecurity in 2013.

“The president was still unconvinced, he mooted the idea at the Federal Executive Council, Mr Mohammed Adoke told the president: You do not have the power to remove a sitting governor,” the vice-president said. “They sought the opinion of another SAN in the cabinet, Kabiru Turaki, who also said: I am of the candid opinion of my senior colleagues. That was how the matter was laid to rest.”

“I want to thank you for the courage to forgive those who have offended you. In the last four years of the Jonathan government, I was the public enemy number one,” he added.

Though, Shettima did not directly address Mr Fubara’s removal, but the tone of his prepared speech underscored his anger about the general issue of presidential interference in state affairs.

However, Shettima over time, has avoided airing his opinion on the legality of Mr Fubara’s removal since it was announced, and his decision to use his first public statement to condemn the action could further fuel crisis between him and the president.

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