NIGERIA: Presidency Debunks Claims of VP Shettima’s Denial Of Access To Villa, Describes Reports As Mischievous And Fabricated

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria 

The Presidency has strongly refuted recent claims circulating online that Vice President Kashim Shettima, GCON, was denied access to the Presidential Villa.

It described the reports as false, mischievous, and a product of deliberate disinformation.

In a statement released on Saturday by Stanley Nkwocha, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), the Presidency dismissed the reports as “totally fabricated” and aimed at sowing discord at the highest levels of government.

According to the statement, the story, propagated by “obscure blogs” that armed military personnel barricaded the Vice President from entering the Villa is “not only the wildest expression of wishful thinking but a clear indication that the purveyors of these tales have exhausted both ink and imagination.”

Nkwocha noted that the latest allegation is part of a pattern of misinformation and baseless narratives targeted at creating a false impression of a rift between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and Vice President Shettima.

He emphasized that “nothing of the sort ever happened” and that the relationship between the President and his Deputy remains strong, united by a shared commitment to national development and constitutional governance.

“This latest attempt to traduce the person and office of the Vice President is as futile as it is reckless. The Vice President remains committed to his duties and to supporting President Tinubu in delivering on the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians,” the statement read.

The Presidency also recalled a recent instance of similar fake news regarding the circulation of campaign posters bearing President Tinubu’s image, attributing it to the same group of “mischief-makers” trying to undermine the administration.

Nkwocha commended Nigerians who have continued to express support for the government and urged the public to disregard malicious publications and focus on verified information from credible sources.

“No amount of falsehood or manufactured tension can shake the foundation of the democratic mandate given to this administration. Not under the watch of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR,” the statement concluded.