‘We Are All One’ – Shettima Tells Opposition Parties

Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has called on Nigerian politicians to rise above party affiliations and embrace a common goal of national development, stating that the country’s challenges demand unity across political lines.

Naijaonpoint reports that Shettima gave the advice on Thursday in Abuja during the unveiling of a memoir titled “OPL245: The Inside Story of the $1.3bn Nigerian Oil Bloc” authored by Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

In a subtle message to the political class amid fresh alignments ahead of the 2027 general elections, Shettima stressed that Nigeria’s future depends on a shared vision of progress rather than partisan rivalries.

The Vice President’s remarks come at a time when various opposition figures are regrouping under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a coalition platform for the 2027 elections.

While acknowledging dignitaries present at the event, including politicians from across party lines, Shettima noted that Nigeria’s political actors must work collectively to strengthen institutions, uphold justice, and drive economic reforms.

He said, “The game changer, is he still around? No, the game changer has left. But the enfant terrible of the Nigerian Governor’s Club, hate him, love him, but you can’t ignore him. Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, former Governor of Kaduna State, and the fire-spitting leader of the Kwankwassiyya Movement, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. So many dignitaries, which reflects the eclectic crowd of friends that Mohammed Bello Adoke maintains. We have PDP. We have a new PDP. We have the coalition heavily represented by my elder brother, Malam Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai. We have the NNPP/APP/APC, but this is a reflection, this is a kaleidoscope of colours.

“What binds us together surpasses whatever divides us. Former IGP MD Abubakar is a PDP man, okay, let me say, sympathetic to PDP. We are all one. I have the best of relationships with him, in spite of our minor political differences. And of course, Senator Daggash, are you in ADC or APC or PDP? Only God knows where you belong to.”

Urging Adoke to forgive his traducers, the vice president recalled how he was demonised and labelled Public Enemy Number One in the last four years of the Jonathan administration, saying he has, however, reconciled with the former president.

In what also portrayed Jonathan as a man who respected the rule of law, the vice president spoke of how the former president had tried to remove him as Governor of Borno State but bowed to the superior legal advice of Adoke as his AGF.

Quoting the late American cleric and rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr., Shettima said, “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands at moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenges and controversies. In the last four years of the Jonathan administration, I was the most demonised person. I was the public enemy number one.

“And there are two gentlemen seated here. Certain decisions are taken in a very rare cycle. The President, the Vice President, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. At one of such conclaves, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, with whom we have sheathe the sword and have now recalibrated our relationship, was mooting the idea of removing ‘this Borno governor, this Borno governor’ and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, had the courage to tell the president that, ‘Your Excellency, you don’t have the powers to remove an elected councillor’.

“The president was still not convinced. He mooted the idea at the Federal Executive Council. I admire Mr Mohamed Bello Adoke fundamentally for his courage, for his convictions, and for his capacity to stand for what he believes in. He told the then president that, ‘Mr President, you do not have the powers to remove a sitting governor, not even a councillor. They sought the opinion of another SAN in the cabinet, Kabiru Turaki, who said, ‘I concur with the opinion of my senior colleague’. That was how the matter was laid to rest, but that was how my relationship with Mr Bello Adoke and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal became eternally sealed.”

The vice president also urged Nigerian leaders to document their experiences for posterity, rather than trying to cover up events during their time in government.

He added, “Nigeria has endured the silence of too many who left public service with their stories still in the bonds of memories. Our public service is a territory governed by silence. There is silence to protect relationships, there is silence to protect secrets too delicate to disclose, there is silence for memories we would rather forget. As a generation of leaders, we must summon the courage to document our journeys.”