A President Cannot Remove A Governor, Jonathan Tried It With Me And Failed, VP Shettima Reveals

Thursday July 10, 2025
By TheNewsDESK |

Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has revealed how he survived an alleged plot by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to remove him from office as Governor of Borno State.

He recalled that he was demonised and became public enemy number one over false allegations during the last four years of Jonathan’s presidency.

Shettima spoke on Thursday, July 10, during the public presentation of a new book, OPL245: Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Nigerian Oil Block, a memoir by former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre.

Also speaking at the event, former President Goodluck Jonathan stated that Mohammed Adoke, who served as Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) during his administration, was hunted globally in connection with the oil prospecting lease (OPL) case.

Further elaborating on his alleged persecution by the Jonathan administration, Shettima noted that it took the courage of the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and Adoke to inform President Jonathan that he did not have the constitutional authority to remove a sitting state governor.

He, however, disclosed that he and Jonathan have since reconciled.

Shettima said: “In the last four years of the Jonathan administration, I was the most demonised person. I was public enemy number one. And there are two gentlemen seated here who took certain decisions in a very rare case: the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

“Former President Goodluck Jonathan, with whom I have now recalibrated my relationship, was mooting the idea of removing me as the Governor of Borno State. Tambuwal, the then Speaker, had the courage to tell the President, ‘Your Excellency, you don’t have the power to remove even a councillor of a local government’. The President was still not convinced.

“He mooted the idea at the Federal Executive Council. 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’.”

According to Shettima, other key cabinet members at the time failed to support the move, and that was how the matter was eventually dropped.

He added that this experience marked the beginning of a lasting relationship with Adoke and Tambuwal.

Shettima commended Adoke for what he described as a reconciliatory gesture. “I commend you for forgiving all those that offended you during your ordeal.”

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