The governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa and the vice-presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has received another reply from Femi Fani Kayode following his attack on Kashim Shettima, vice-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Newsonline reports that Kayode said the statement of Shettima that he would be in charge of security while Tinubu would be in charge of the economy is not absurd as Okowa claimed.
The former Minister of Aviation said Okowa should have known that the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, was once a vice president who understood delegation of power.
Fani Kayode made the statement in defense of Shettima who had on the 29 of August at the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference said he would be in charge of security, while his principal Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state would be in charge of the economy.
Reacting to the statement of Shettima, Okowa described the assertion of the APC vice-presidential candidate as absurd and an abuse of power.
Kayode, an APC chieftain, argued that the Delta State governor should have used his intelligence to understand Shettima meant delegation and not usurping the role of the president.
In a series of tweets, Femi Kayode, said, “Gov. Okowa, the VP candidate of PDP knows that when Sen. Shettima said he, as VP, would take charge of security whilst Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as President, would focus on the economy, he did not suggest that he would usurp the constitutional functions of the incoming President and Commander-in-Chief.
“What he meant was that he would be assigned that role by the President and that he has the inherent experience and knowledge to handle such an assignment with courage and strength due to the vast experience he has gained over the years when facing the challenge of Boko-Haram, whilst he was governor of Borno state.
“It amazes me that Gov. Okowa, who is ordinarily a level-headed, cerebal, decent, restrained and well-exposed man and who I have always had respect for, would consider this to be “unconstitutional” or “absurd”.
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Referencing back to Obasanjo administration Femi said, “It is perfectly constitutional and legitimate and it is common practice when it comes to our system of government. Permit me to share a precedent. When the pres. candidate of PDP Atiku Abubakar and Okowa’s senior partner was VP during the 1st term of Pres. Obasanjo’s Govt. between 1999 and 2003, control over the running and restoration of the economy was assigned to him by OBJ whilst the Pres. focused on foreign affairs and international relations.
“This did not mean that OBJ was no longer Commander-in-Chief or in charge of the country but rather that he had enough faith and confidence in his number 2 to do a good job in that sector and consequently he assigned it to him to handle and report back to him. No one complained about this arrangement& neither did anyone question its constitutionality.
“The President is the Commander-in-Chief but he has the powers to assign whatever role or sector he deems fit to his Vice to preside over at any point in time. If it is security or anything else then so be it. All is at the discretion of the incoming President and it is clear that the trust and respect that he has for Sen. Shettima is unequivocal, unquestionable and unimpeachable.”
He advised, “It is more than enough to warrant assigning any role that he deems fit to him, including security. For the record, it is not for the President or Vice-presidential candidate of PDP to tell Tinubu/ Shettima how to run their Govt. or lecture them on what is or what is not constitutional.
“They should stay in their lane, mind their business and instead concentrate on attempting to fix the degenerating and worsening rancour, rift and raging civil war that is tearing their party apart and preparing for what will be the mother of all electoral struggles and presidential campaigns for next years election.
“That should be Governor Okowa’s focus and not what role Senator Kashim Shettima will play when, by God’s grace, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and he are elected President and Vice President respectively. ”
Newsonline recalls that Femi Fani Kayode had accused Kashim Shettima of being hostage of the Chibok school girls kidnapped by the Boko-Haram terrorist group in 2014. Femi Kayode in the tweet described Shettima as murderous, evil and scum.
He tweeted, “In Maiduguri, the citizens know that Gov Shettima is the Boko-Haram boss and the keeper of the Chibok girls,” quoting Ali Modu Sheriff.
“Shettima is indeed the keeper of the Chibok girls whilst Sheriff himself is the founder and the father of Boko-Haram. Both men are murderous, evil and scum,” he added.
