Cease Your Bitterness, Shettima Loyal, Not Determined, Presidency Tells Datti

The Presidency has accused the 2023 Labour Party (LP) vice presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, of being consumed by “obsession and bitterness” over the success of Vice President Kashim Shettima, warning that his repeated assaults have been baseless, malicious, and laced with private frustration.

Reacting to Datti’s newest look on Come up New Channel, the place he questioned why President Bola Tinubu has not eliminated Vice President Shettima from workplace, the Senior Particular Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Workplace of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, issued a strongly worded assertion on Friday, describing the remarks as “unprovoked, determined, and steeped in envy.”

In keeping with Nkwocha, Shettima stays a loyal and reliable deputy to President Tinubu and has continued to discharge his obligations with “integrity, patriotism, and devotion to the Renewed Hope Agenda.”

“In contrast to the image of a desperado that Datti tried to color of VP Shettima, this Vice President is an ideal story of democratic credentials—untainted and by no means concerned in election rigging. In actual fact, he has by no means misplaced an election,” the assertion learn.

He added that Vice President Shettima has continued to function a trusted companion in governance, and his loyalty to President Tinubu is “unwavering and complete,” a trait that the President deeply values.

Nkwocha questioned the credibility of Datti’s criticisms, citing his removing from the Senate by the courts in 2011 for alleged election rigging in favour of the now-defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

He recalled how the tribunal had nullified Datti’s victory and awarded the seat to former Kaduna State Governor, Ahmed Makarfi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), after a recount uncovered irregularities.

“Discuss is reasonable,” the assertion continued. “Those that rigged elections and have been despatched packing by the courts mustn’t try to moralise. Datti’s bitterness stems from private political failure.

Whereas Shettima delivered Borno for his get together, Datti couldn’t even safe a second-place end for the Labour Party in Kaduna.”

The Presidency additionally rebuked Datti for what it described as “a historical past of determined rhetoric,” together with his controversial remarks after the 2023 elections that have been extensively seen as undermining democratic processes.

Nkwocha additional listed Vice President Shettima’s lengthy and various public service file—from college lecturer to banker, state commissioner, two-term governor, senator, and now Vice President—stating that his rise to the nation’s second-highest workplace is the results of laborious work and divine windfall.

“God, in His infinite mercy, elevated Senator Shettima to the place he’s right this moment. That elevation just isn’t unmeritorious. The obsession of Datti Baba-Ahmed with one other man’s future is baffling,” he mentioned.

The assertion additionally dismissed Datti’s suggestion that the President ought to take away Shettima, saying such a requirement lacked any constitutional foundation and uncovered the previous senator’s lack of depth in democratic norms.

“This President has no time for beer parlour gossip or petty distractions. He sees in Shettima a loyal, competent, and cerebral companion. No quantity of envy or hate speech from the likes of Datti can change that.”

Concluding the assertion, Nkwocha warned that additional “unprovoked assaults” towards the Vice President would now not go unanswered.

“For too lengthy, we have now allowed Datti’s vituperations to go unchecked. That point is over. We are going to match each lie with the reality. If he seeks Shettima’s fall, he should first reckon with the desire of Almighty Allah who alone offers energy,” Nkwocha mentioned.

He reaffirmed that the Vice President’s media workforce would stay centered on amplifying the successes of the Tinubu administration however would now not tolerate what he described as “low cost photographs from politically wounded characters.”