Tribunal: Atiku Tackles Shettima Over Retirement Joke

People Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said the only legacy of Vice-President Kashim Shettima is transforming Borno State from 'the Home of Peace' to hell fire.

Atiku said this in a statement by special assistant on Public Communications, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, while reacting to Shettima's joke about him shortly after the verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC).

Following the tribunal judgment in favour of President Bola Tinubu and Shettima, had said  "Atiku Abubakar is an elder statesman that I hold in very high esteem, and anybody who knows the social-cultural interaction between the Fulanis and the Kanuris in the North will know that I have the liberty to haul all insults at him, and he will bear," said Mr Shettima on Wednesday, fielding questions after tribunal's ruling.

"We are not going to retire him to Dubai or Morocco. I will retire him to Fombina. I will buy him goats, broilers and layers so that he can spend his days rearing goats and broilers, but on a joking side," the Vice President said.

Responding however, Atiku, a former vice president, said Shettima failed abysmally as governor and chief security officer of Borno State.

The statement said it was laughable that Shettima who has the most woeful governance record in Nigerian history and could not lift the people of Borno State from poverty was planning on investing in Atiku.

It added, "He (Shettima) loves to crack lackluster jokes at every given opportunity. Last year, he said Vice-President Osinbajo should have been an ice cream man instead of a politician. Later on, he said Nigeria needed a leader like Sani Abacha.

"As part of his circus act, he visited the annual general conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in an oversize suit, a pair of sneakers and a poorly knotted tie. Shettima needs to decide if he wants to be a statesman or Baba Sala of blessed memory.

His behaviour is certainly unbefitting for a man who currently holds the exalted office of Vice-President, even if temporarily."

Shaibu said it had become Shettima's stock in trade to deride others because he had nothing worthwhile to say about himself or his principal, Bola Tinubu, whose three months in office have only worsened poverty and inflation.

He recalled that Shettima was appointed as commissioner for finance and later became governor of Borno State, adding that those who brought him into government had high expectations for him having come from the banking sector.

"During his tenure as governor between 2011 and 2019, Borno State was taken over by terrorists completely. He ignored a security report about an impending attack on Chibok which ultimately led to the abduction of over 250 schoolgirls.

"Specifically, the head of WAEC's National Office in Nigeria, Charles Eguridu, stated in 2014 that WAEC had informed Shettima about the danger of holding exams in Chibok and advised that the students be relocated to Maidguri which was relatively safer. Shettima refused to relocate the students and they were abducted, half of whom have not been seen again till today.

"Even though he left government four years ago, the millions of residents of Borno State have yet to recover from the mistake called Shettima. Rather than be penitent, he continues to move about like a clown, making unsolicited dry jokes about others."

Shaibu advised the Vice-President to stick to praying to God for forgiveness for thwarting the destiny of the millions of people of Borno State.

"We advise Kashim Shettima to spend the remainder of his days praying to God every day for forgiveness for destroying the lives of the millions of people of Borno State rather than making dry and insipid jokes at those who have actually bettered the lives of people.

"His lack of sophistication is eroding the elegance of the Office of the Vice-President. Men of honour have held that position in the past and Shettima should learn from the examples they led in public decency. In any case, he would do well by attending a finishing school on Atiku's scholarship and learn how to behave like a polished statesman," Shaibu said.