Vice President Kashim Shettima revealed yesterday, Thursday, July 10, that former President Goodluck Jonathan once planned to remove him from office during his tenure as Governor of Borno State. Speaking at the launch of Mohammed Bello Adoke’s memoir, Shettima said that at a high-level federal executive council meeting, Jonathan suggested removing him from office amidst the insurgency, but was confronted by the then Attorney-General Adoke who told him, “Mr President, you do not have the powers to remove a sitting governor, not even a councillor”.
Shettima described himself as “the most demonised person” and “public enemy number one” in Jonathan’s administration’s final years. He credited Adoke’s firm legal stance, backed by SAN Kabiru Turaki, and Speaker Aminu Tambuwal’s insistence on constitutional limits for halting the plan. Reflecting on the episode, Shettima said the intervention not only saved his governorship but also reinforced his respect for the rule of law and cemented a lifelong bond with Adoke and Tambuwal.
