Vice President Kashim Shettima has reminded politicians in the country of their shared interest, stating that they are all united in the que...
Vice President Kashim Shettima has reminded politicians in the country of their shared interest, stating that they are all united in the quest for nation-building, regardless of their political inclinations.
He made this known while speaking at the unveiling of the book, “OPL245: The Inside Story of the $1.3b Nigerian Oil Bloc”, in Abuja on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
The book was written byMohammed Bello Adoke SAN, a former Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Vice President reminded the politicians that what binds the political class together is more potent than whatever divides them.
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Jonathan, who was represented by his Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, stated that Adoke was being hunted at home and abroad.
He said, “The author of this memoir, Mr. Bello Adoke, was the Attorney-General of the Federation at that time. He was hunted across the globe, but today, he is alive, he is healthy, and he is here to tell his story.
“Power belongs to God. The best anyone who is blessed with the opportunity of holding public office should do is to commit to the assignment and use the opportunity to uphold truth, justice, and fairness.
“To some, the occasion may be a book presentation. To others, it is a celebration of victory over persecution.”
Shetimma says all political parties are the same
In response, Shettima applauded all the political heavyweights present, including former Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru El-Rufai and former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
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“The game changer, is he still around? No, the game changer has left. But the enfant terrible of the Nigerian Governor’s Club, hate him, love him, but you can’t ignore him. Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, and the fire-spitting leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
"So many dignitaries, which reflects the eclectic crowd of friends that Mohammed Bello Adoke maintains. We have PDP. We have new PDP. We have the coalition heavily represented by my elder brother, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai. We have the NNPP/APP/APC, but this is a reflection, this is a kaleidoscope of colours.
“What binds us together surpasses whatever that divides us. Former IGP MD Abubakar is a PDP man, okay, let me say sympathetic to PDP. We are all one. I have the best of relationship with him, in spite of our minor political differences.
"And of course, Senator Daggash, are you in ADC or APC or PDP? Only God knows where you belong to,” he said jocularly.
Shettima recalls his ordeal during the Jonathan regime
The Vice President also urged Adoke to forgive his tormentors, recalling how he had been demonised and labeled Public Enemy Number One in the last four years of the Jonathan administration, saying he had, however, reconciled with the former president.
Shettima also narrated how the former president had tried to remove him as Governor of Borno State, but bowed to the superior legal advice of Adoke as his AGF.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands at moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenges and controversies. In the last four years of the Jonathan administration, I was the most demonized person. I was the public enemy number one," he quoted the late American cleric and rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr.
“And there are two gentlemen seated here. Certain decisions are taken in a very rare cycle. The President, the Vice President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. At one of such conclaves, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, with whom we have sheathe the sword and have now recalibrated our relationship, was mooting the idea of removing ‘this Borno governor, this Borno governor’ and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, had the courage to tell the president that, ‘Your Excellency, you don’t have the powers to remove an elected councillor’.
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“The president was still not convinced. He mooted the idea at the Federal Executive Council. I admire Mr Mohamed Bello Adoke fundamentally for his courage and for his convictions and for his capacity to stand for what he believes in. He told the then president that, ‘Mr President, you do not have the powers to remove a sitting governor, not even a councilor. They sought for the opinion of another SAN in the cabinet, Kabiru Turaki, who said, ‘I am concurring with the opinion of my senior colleague’. That was how the matter was laid to rest, but that was how my relationship with Mr Bello Adoke and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal became eternally sealed.”
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