Vice President Kashim Shettima has claimed that former President Goodluck Jonathan once attempted to remove him as governor of Borno State during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency, but was allegedly thwarted by legal and political resistance within the ex-president’s inner circle.
Shettima made the claim on Thursday at the public presentation of ‘OPL 245: Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Nigeria Oil Block’, a book written by former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, in Abuja.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelSpeaking at the event, Shettima recounted the intense political pressure he faced in 2013 following the abduction of schoolgirls from Chibok and the declaration of a state of emergency across three North-East states.
He described himself as the “most demonised” public figure during that period and claimed he was labeled “public enemy number one” by elements within the Jonathan administration.
“In one of those exclusive meetings involving the President, Vice President, Senate President, and Speaker, former President Goodluck Jonathan, with whom we have since buried the hatchet, was considering the idea of removing me as governor of Borno,” Shettima stated.
According to the Vice President, it was Mohammed Adoke and the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, who challenged the plan and warned Jonathan that the Nigerian Constitution did not empower the president to remove an elected councillor, let alone a democratically elected governor.
Although the action was never carried out, Shettima’s disclosure adds new detail to the already well-documented tension between his administration in Borno and the Jonathan-led federal government, particularly over the handling of the Boko Haram crisis.
However, Shettima’s newly publicised ordeal has drawn comparisons to a more recent political controversy involving his current principal, President Tinubu in Rivers State.
In March 2025, Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and all members of the state House of Assembly. The president cited Section 305 of the Constitution and appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as the sole administrator of the state, a move that many legal experts and political observers condemned as unconstitutional.
Despite the widespread criticism, Vice President Shettima has not issued any public statement regarding the suspension of the elected government in Rivers State. His silence has raised questions about consistency in defending constitutional principles.
The 1999 Constitution, as amended, provides no explicit authority for the president to suspend or unseat a sitting governor. Section 188 outlines the process for removing a governor, which must originate from the State House of Assembly and involve judicial proceedings. Legal challenges to the Rivers intervention have already been filed by some governors at the Supreme Court.
As the political landscape heats up ahead of future elections, Shettima’s comments may be interpreted both as a reflection on his past struggles and a reminder of the enduring tension between federal power and state autonomy in Nigeria’s democracy.
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