When obsession becomes a curse: the Datti-Baba Ahmed example, by Stanley Nkwocha

On a day Vice President Kashim Shettima, GCON, began by attending the 2025 World Cassava Day ceremony in Abuja, where he declared the potential of cassava as a key driver of Nigeria’s industrial development and import substitution following the diversification drive of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, before returning to the office to inaugurate the board of the National Credit Guarantee Company Limited (NCGC) constituted by Mr President before heading to Kano State on a condolence visit to the family of the late Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Peter Obi’s running mate in the 2023 Presidential Election, Sen. Datti-Baba Ahmed found his way to Arise Television making a case for the Coalition of political parties. At the end, he found a way to, as usual, throw aspersions on the person and office of the Vice President of Nigeria.

In the said interview, Baba-Ahmed expressed his frustrations on why the President had yet to remove the VP from office for not a single reason or offence he evidently linked the Vice President with, but merely to soothe his ego and wish. Well, the bad news for him is that his frustration is just beginning.

We would have allowed Datti’s vituperations to slide away and defenestrate his ill thoughts like we have done in the past, but on second thought, it is wise to reply to Datti Ahmed and put him in his right place in history especially since his graduation with a Poor Pass Degree (Not even a Third Class!) from the University of Maiduguri. This is even as he had lost the 2023 elections and openly fell short of calling for a military coup.

For the record, unlike the picture of a desperado that Datti attempted to paint of VP Shettima, this VP, a gentleman, is a perfect story of democratic credentials that are not only untainted but have also never been involved in rigging elections. I must also add that this democrat and leader have never lost an election. In case Datti has forgotten, let him be reminded that this Vice President landed at the Presidential Villa by the mercy of the Almighty God and through the destined hand and will of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after starting life upon graduation from the university as lecturer 2 ( for 2 years), banker ( 6 years), Commissioner across several ministries in Borno State, (4years), Governor (8 years) and Senator (4 years). If God, in His infinite mercy, has elevated Senator Shettima to become the Vice President of Nigeria, is it unmeritorious?

Like him, hate him or continue to disparage him on all fronts, a major attribute of VP Shettima that cannot be contested is his loyalty to his boss, President Tinubu, and his total belief and devotion to the Renewed Hope Agenda. Unfortunately for the likes of Datti, who would rather expect the President to find fault with his deputy, all President Tinubu sees in him is a loyal and dependable ally, administrative and political asset, intellectual powerhouse, experienced private and public servant, a trojan horse, a reliable confidante, as well as a trustworthy and truly molded cosmopolitan Nigerian.

Unfortunately for the likes of Datti, the President is way above their “petty egos and small thoughts”. This President has seen it all, with his massive wealth of experience in private and public life. Datti can therefore take his small beer parlour gossip elsewhere. The ears are sealed up here; no space for armchair criticism. It is always work mode for Mr President and his Vice President.

And talking more about political desperation, was it Kashim Shettima’s fault that while he delivered Borno State to his party as Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Datti Baba-Ahmed left the Labour Party comfortably and unperturbed at a distant third position in the same election in Kaduna State in the 2023 general election?

The real definition of political desperation and desire to capture power can only be situated in Datti’s political trajectory when the Courts sent him packing from the Senate for rigging elections. In other words, he committed electoral fraud, which is forever captured in our crime records. Need I remind Datti Baba-Ahmed how he was removed from the Senate due to a court ruling after the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kaduna discovered that the election was rigged in his favour? Here’s a breakdown of what happened.

After the April 28, 2011, election, Baba-Ahmed, then a member of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), was declared winner for the Kaduna North Senatorial District. However, his opponent, Ahmed Makarfi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), petitioned the tribunal, alleging election rigging. Makarfi, in the petition, accused Datti of gross rigging, praying the tribunal to recount the ballot papers.

The court granted the request, and a recount was carried out. After the final count, Makarfi polled 364,801 while Datti of CPC polled 356,579 votes. Consequently, the tribunal removed Baba-Ahmed from the Senate and replaced him with Senator Makarfi in November 2011. Datti appealed the decision of the tribunal, but the Appeal Court dismissed his case, upholding Makarfi’s victory. The courts thus sent him embarrassingly packing from the upper chamber of the National Assembly sending a clear message that impostors are not welcomed here!

See why talk is cheap?

Let me conclude by saying this Vice President has continued to carry out his duties with integrity, decency and patriotism. The office of the Vice President requires total loyalty, which Shettima embodies. He has, without equivocation, continued to market the programmes of this administration with unbridled gusto and conviction both in Nigeria and all over the world.

As a consummate salesman and believer in the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration, the Vice President continues to traverse the world, marketing and showcasing the economic viability of the present administration, geared towards the unfurling of the great Nigerian possibility. It is this kind of loyalty and commitment that the Dattis of this world, acting in cahoots with implacable enemies of the President, want to scuttle. History will bear witness to Shettima as an effective Vice President, who has continued to work on a daily basis for the good governance of a country he is so proud of. The delusion of VP Shettima being removed by Datti and his gang of jealous, malicious and conspiratorial manipulators will not succeed.

This Vice President’s media team and image handlers are very calm, gentle and respectable professionals, choosing to support their principal in the most effective way possible. For us, the overall goal and prize is the success of President Tinubu, as always emphasised by the Vice President. This, from the Vice President to everyone in his office and home, is solemn in priority and task. Undue and unprovoked attacks like this would henceforth not go without a response from us.

We might not have the power to stop Datti Baba-Ahmed’s obsession with a fellow politician and fellow Northerner’s charismatic persona, especially one who has attained a position he so relishes but might never attain, however, in seeking the Vice President’s fall, he must defer to the Almighty Allah, who gives power to whom He pleases. A million and one hate comments will never change the will of the Almighty.

-Nkwocha is Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications, Office of the Vice President