By Stanley Nkwocha
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s camp is in a frenzy, making and circulating irresponsible posts linking Vice President Kashim Shettima to terrorism. The posts can best be described as recycled and dishonest conspiracy theories that were buried 13 years ago.
So, let’s puncture them with FACTS:
1. SHETTIMA WAS THE TARGET, NOT THE HOST
Kabiru Sokoto did NOT go to the Borno Lodge as Shettima’s guest. He INFILTRATED it in an attempt to KIDNAP Shettima’s children.
A confidential security memo dated June 14, 2012, and addressed to the Presidency established this. And this is public!
This was also at a period when the PDP was in power and then-Governor Kashim Shettima was in opposition. However, the security agencies cleared the VP of any wrongdoing.
2. WHY WERE SHETTIMA’S CHILDREN THERE?
In late 2011, security agencies warned Governor Shettima, barely eight months in office, that Boko Haram planned to kidnap his three children, all under 10 years old, for a ₦1 billion ransom.
Like any father would, he sought safety for them and moved them from Maiduguri to Abuja.
Sokoto disguised himself as a stranded “Borno man” and begged a guest at the lodge to allow him to stay for the night. That guest’s mistake was subsequently described as a “major security breach.”
3. WHO ARRESTED HIM?
Security operatives tracking Sokoto through GPRS traced him to the lodge and ARRESTED him on January 14, 2012.
He was caught despite his disguise. The Borno State Government subsequently said it was a plot to harm the Governor. So, Paul Ibe, how does the victim suddenly become the accused?
4. WERE PEOPLE SANCTIONED? YES.
Paul Ibe asks: “Were officials sanctioned?” The answer exposes his ignorance.
IGP Hafiz Ringim was retired by President Goodluck Jonathan following Sokoto’s escape. AIG Zakari Biu was suspended and placed under house arrest, while several officers were detained.
So, what “full record” does Ibe want that is not already public? Ibe should stop weaponising terrorism for politics.
While Shettima was risking his life visiting Boko Haram frontlines in Borno, Atiku was in Abuja. Today, you want to lecture him on Boko Haram?
VP Shettima has no questions to run away from. He was the TARGET. The memo is public. The conviction is public. The facts are public.
Paul Ibe and his paymaster in the ADC should look for ideas instead of recycling 13-year-old falsehoods in a desperate attempt to remain relevant. Nigerians are wiser.
AND NOW, THE PAINFUL, BLATANT TRUTH!
This campaign will be such a long night for the opposition. Indeed, Vice President Kashim Shettima merely served the appetiser yesterday, just a small, little, minute, infinitesimal taste of what promises to be a five-course meal. Everywhere burst, as we say in local parlance!
For those digging up lies and trying to link the VP to violence, as they have done in every election he has triumphed in while they have lost since 2011, it is time to brace up. Nigerians have seen in the Vice President the intellect, vibrancy, hard work, passion for service, and unwavering loyalty and commitment to President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Painfully for the opposition, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The VP will be on duty this political season.
RUN! RUN! RUN!
For those who do not share his views yesterday on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, do us a favour: mention one, just one. I mean a single misrepresentation, lie or faulty statement made by Vice President Kashim Shettima yesterday. And I mean just one.
Go back and check, and you will reconfirm that, as far as Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi are concerned, theirs is a case of res ipsa loquitur. The facts speak for themselves.
For instance, let me pick one issue out of the many corruption allegations and controversies surrounding Atiku. I did not call him corrupt, neither did my Oga. It was Atiku’s former boss, OBJ, who said the man made up for his little education and bagged a PhD in corruption!
Otherwise, how could our past leaders struggle to build the Ajaokuta Steel Industry for $3.3 billion, only for then-Vice President Atiku, as Chairman of the National Economic Council, to balloon it off for a paltry $130 million? Just how?
Shey Baba God go forgive this kain person ni? Or should we simply accept his apologies and turn a blind eye?
And for Peter Obi, beyond his famous bogus voodoo economics, as mentioned and widely debated by Nigerians and alluded to by the Vice President, for him to gain access to the Presidential Villa, he must first and foremost gain the acceptance of the North. This is a painful fact.
And my challenge is simple: while he was Governor of Anambra State, and before showing interest in leading Nigeria, can he mention just one state he visited in the North on a solidarity visit, for a wedding, or even on a friendly visit?
I mean, again, just one state. Rather, Peter Obi is still explaining whether he expelled Northerners from his state or not while he was Governor of Anambra.
To think Kwankwaso will pull the wool over the eyes of Northern voters is like attempting to scoop water from a river in the desert!
VP Shettima personally scripted his speech yesterday. And as someone who works with him within his media space, I pity the opposition for what is to come.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Bring it on. We game, and the boss is game.
And Mr President? His achievements speak volumes, in unexpected quantum. And so, it is gaaamme overrrrr!
