Presidency Hits Back at Datti Baba-Ahmed, Accuses Him of Bitterness and Envy Toward VP Shettima

The Presidency has responded sharply to recent criticism from Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed, the 2023 Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, accusing him of harboring bitterness and envy toward Vice President Kashim Shettima’s political trajectory and rising influence.

In a statement released on Friday by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications (Office of the Vice President), the Presidency described Datti’s remarks—made during a recent interview on Arise News—as “unprovoked, desperate, and steeped in envy.”

Baba-Ahmed had questioned why President Bola Tinubu had not removed Shettima from office, a comment the Presidency dismissed as “baseless” and reflective of political frustration.

“Unlike the picture of a desperado that Datti attempted to paint, Vice President Shettima represents a democratic success story—untainted and never associated with election rigging. He has, in fact, never lost an election,” Nkwocha said in the statement.

He emphasized Shettima’s unwavering loyalty to President Tinubu and described him as a trusted, capable second-in-command.

Nkwocha also questioned Baba-Ahmed’s moral authority to criticize the Vice President, recalling that he was removed from the National Assembly in 2011 by court order for alleged electoral malpractice in favour of the now-defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

“Those who were ousted by the courts for election fraud should not attempt to moralize,” Nkwocha stated. “Datti’s bitterness stems from his personal political failures.”

He further noted that while Shettima delivered Borno State for the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 elections, Baba-Ahmed could not even secure a second-place finish for the Labour Party in his home state of Kaduna.