Your bitterness won’t bring Shettima down – Presidency hits back at Datti Baba-Ahmed

The Presidency has fired back at Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed, the 2023 Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, accusing him of being gripped by obsession and bitterness over Vice President Kashim Shettima’s political journey and rising profile.

In a statement issued on Friday, Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications (Office of the Vice President), said Datti’s latest remarks were unprovoked, desperate, and steeped in envy.

This was in response to Datti’s appearance on Arise News where he questioned why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not removed Shettima from office.

The Presidency described the comments as not only baseless but also a reflection of Datti’s own political frustrations.

“Unlike the picture of a desperado that Datti attempted to paint of VP Shettima, this Vice President is a perfect story of democratic credentials—untainted and never involved in election rigging. In fact, he has never lost an election,” Nkwocha’s statement read.

He praised Shettima’s record, noting that the VP has been a loyal, effective second-in-command to President Tinubu and remains a trusted partner in governance.

“His loyalty to President Tinubu is unwavering and total,” the statement added, “a trait that the President deeply values.”

Nkwocha also challenged Datti’s moral authority to critique the Vice President, recalling how the former senator was removed from the National Assembly by court ruling in 2011 for alleged electoral fraud in favour of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

“Those who rigged elections and were sent packing by the courts should not attempt to moralise. Datti’s bitterness stems from personal political failure.

“While Shettima delivered Borno for his party, Datti couldn’t even secure a second-place finish for the Labour Party in Kaduna.”

Your bitterness won’t bring Shettima down – Presidency hits back at Datti Baba-Ahmed