The former Special Adviser on Political Affairs to Vice President Kashim Shettima, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has downplayed claims that his ex-boss was being sidelined by President Bola Tinubu.
Baba-Ahmed said Shettima will defend Tinubu with his life, stressing that there is no “evidence”; that the president was sidelining his Vice.
While Tinubu was on a working visit to France, there were reports that Shettima was prevented from accessing the Presidential Villa.
This, the presidency had refuted, stressing that there was a harmonious working relationship between Tinubu and Shettima.
However, featuring on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Monday evening, Baba-Ahmed said the chemistry between Tinubu and Shettima was excellent.
Asked about Tinubu sidelining Shettima, he said: “No, I didn’t see any evidence of that. The personal chemistry between the president and the VP is excellent.
“The Vice President as officially recognized by the constitution as the number two citizen – how busy he is, what he does and doesn’t do – depends on the disposition of the president.
“The personal chemistry between the president and the vice president is excellent. I hear this from the Vice President and I believe him.
“Sometimes, almost to a fault, Shettima always says how great the president, that he is a good man who means well for this country.
“Sometimes, on one or two occasions, I have said to him, if he is so good, how is it we see a lot of the wrong things going on?
“He (Shettima) will defend the president with his life, I know this for a fact – but it’s the way it is setup – you also need to understand that the Presidency is a lot more than the president and the vice president – there are very powerful aides, other people who can decide if both of them work well or they don’t work well, they can decide if the number two is active or not, they can’t decide if number one is active or not, that’s how powerful they are.
“He represented this government well and he is an extremely intelligent and hardworking person who is loyal to the president, but that doesn’t really reflects on all of us.
“There are quite a number of absolutely brilliant people in the office, I have met some incredibly good people, Shettima is very good at head-hunting.
“On his side of the presidency, it’s incredible the quality of people he has there. It’s unfortunate, however, that they are not being put to use.”;
