Vice President Kashim Shettima has revealed that former President Goodluck Jonathan made repeated attempts to remove him from office during his tenure as Borno State governor.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday at the launch of OPL 245: Inside Story of the $1.3bn Nigeria Oil Block, a new book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, Shettima said he was the “most demonised” political figure during the last four years of the Jonathan administration.
“In the final four years of President Jonathan’s government, I was the most demonised person in the country. I was public enemy number one,” he said.
According to Shettima, a plan to unseat him was discussed at high-level meetings involving key government figures, including the president, vice president, senate president, and speaker of the House of Representatives.
“At one of those meetings, former President Jonathan suggested removing me as Borno governor. Aminu Tambuwal, then Speaker of the House, boldly told him, ‘Mr. President, you do not have the powers to remove an elected councillor, let alone a governor,’” Shettima recounted.
The idea was later raised again at a Federal Executive Council meeting but was dismissed as unconstitutional by then AGF Adoke.
“Adoke stood firm and told the President that he lacked the constitutional power to remove a sitting governor,” Shettima said.
“They even sought the opinion of another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kabiru Turaki, who agreed with Adoke. That was how the matter ended.”
He noted that the incident forged a lasting bond between him, Adoke, and Tambuwal.
Shettima praised Adoke for standing by legal principles and commended his ability to move past old political tensions.
The book launch centered on the controversial Malabu oil deal involving OPL 245, one of Nigeria’s most lucrative offshore blocks.
The oil giants Shell and Eni reportedly paid $1.3 billion in 2011 to acquire rights to the field, believed to hold up to nine billion barrels of crude oil.
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