Tinubu vs Shettima: How to Stop Nigerian Presidents from Removing Vice Presidents at Will
- President Bola Tinubu's alleged rift with Vice President Kashim Shettima has been dismissed by Barrister Oladotun Hassan
- Hassan, a legal practitioner, in an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, explained that such rumours should not be entertained
- He suggested that people should be allowed to pick forms and contest the VP position to stop unnecessary dismissal claims
Barrister Oladotun Hassan has dismissed the alleged rumour of a rift between President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, adding that Nigerians should not entertain the rumour that the statesman was planning to remove his second-in-command.
In an exclusive interview with Legit.ng, the legal practitioner suspected that the rumour could have been orchestrated by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other northern cabals, who he said aimed to 'hijack' the presidency using the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Source: Twitter
Hassan then called for a change of the political climate in Nigeria, adding that people should be allowed to pick vice presidential forms and the elected separately with constitutional roles.
He said that this would remove the insinuation that the President could remove the Vice President at will.
"In respect of the rumour of a rift between President Tinubu and the Vice President, I don't think we should entertain unnecessary rumours or fight. I don't believe there is a rumour of any destabilisation between the president and the vice president, except if there is an element of betrayal from the vice president, except with the witch hunting of the northern cabals moving and rallying around themselves, even ministers within the government, Atiku and some other leaders from the north, wanting to use SDP to hijack power."
Source: Twitter
"Sometimes, the way things are being run in this country is not the fact that you have a vice president. When Atiku was [Olusegun] Obasanjo's vice president, Obasanjo said 99.9 loyalty is not loyalty, therefore, it must be 100 per cent loyalty. Are government officials loyal to themselves, to their party or to their secluded interests?
"To me, I don't see any fight, except whereby there is a renewed strategy by the president to change the vice president and equally look at another northern state, in order to really play the political game. Politics is a game of chess, if you know that your strategy of where you are picking your vice for first term would not be as impactful as where you need to pick your vice for the second term, it is not a matter of war because it is a discretionary appointment by the president to pick his vice.
"It is not that we elected on the primary of winning the ticket as we elected presidents. It is a different thing that they're not winning alongside the vice president. Maybe they should change the political climate for those who will be running within political parties, let people pick form for vice president and let people pick a form for president. So that this discretion of the president removing the vice president at will would not happen. It kills vision. You might not be able to say, at some point, when [Muhammadu] Buhari was there, that his vice was described as a poster boy."
Expert calls for clearer role for VP Shettima
Meanwhile, Umar Muhammad Lawal, a democracy and governance expert, shared his insights with Legit.ng on the importance of electoral reforms for the office of the vice president in Nigeria amid the alleged rift between President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Lawal, an experienced electoral reform expert, said:
"It’s a bit tricky because they were elected on a joint ticket. Most of the time, the problem usually arises from those people close to them, who are seeing the possibility of the deputy or the vice succeeding the other, which causes a lot of these problems.”
Lawal emphasised the need for reforms to clearly define the vice president’s duties within the Nigerian constitution, suggesting that a clearer role could help reduce conflicts and political instability.
As he put it:
"When it comes to electoral reform, with regards to the office of the vice president, the constitution needs to provide a clear framework of the duties of the vice president, apart from what is enshrined right now."
"Right now, it says for any other duty assigned to him by the president, but if he can have a constitutional role of certain duties and schedules of activities to be performed, it will be a little bit better than what it is right now."
Benue killings: Peter Obi laments restriction
Legit.ng earlier reported that Peter Obi explained what led to his denial of meeting with the IDPs in Benue amid violence.
Obi, who was a two-term governor of Anambra State, stated he was not sure if the governor was aware of the development.
The Labour Party chieftain said he had planned to visit the governor, the traditional ruler, the IDP camps and the nursing school.
Editorial assistant Ololade Olatimehin provided exclusive commentary from a democracy and governance expert for this report.
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Source: Legit.ng
