ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Vice President Kashim Shettima has revealed that some individuals from Borno State once warned President Bola Tinubu against wearing traditional outfits gifted to him during the 2023 presidential campaign, claiming the clothes were spiritually manipulated to influence him.
Shettima disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during the public presentation of My Life of Duty and Allegiance, the autobiography of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.
According to the Vice President, the individuals allegedly warned Tinubu that the outfits had been used to charm him and could eventually lead to his death.
Shettima, however, said the President dismissed the claims and deliberately continued wearing the outfits for several days to prove there was nothing mystical about them.
Using the incident to illustrate what he described as rising suspicion and mistrust in Nigerian society, Shettima contrasted the current atmosphere with the era of Gowon, when relationships across ethnic and religious lines were built more on trust.
“His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, had been narrating the story of the family of the Sultan sending gallons of fura every week to General Yakubu Gowon in Dodan Barracks, because of the trust and confidence General Gowon was willingly receiving it without any suspicion,” Shettima said.
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“But now the game is different. Suspicion smears our relationships, and it ought not to be. We are essentially one people tied to a common destiny.”
The Vice President recalled that during the 2023 presidential primaries, he sourced traditional Borno attire and a cap for Tinubu to wear during campaign activities across Northern Nigeria.
According to him, the outfits became popular and were regularly worn by Tinubu throughout the campaign period.
The controversy, Shettima said, began after the administration assumed office.
He narrated that after returning from Beijing, China, where he represented Tinubu at the Third Belt and Road Initiative Forum in October 2023, the President informed him about concerns raised by some visitors from Borno.
“When I came back from China, where I had represented him at the Belt and Road Initiative Conference, he said: ‘Sit down. Your people came to me and said I should stop wearing those dresses you gave me,’” Shettima recounted.
“They said I must have been charmed, and that I am going to die and he will become the president.”
According to Shettima, Tinubu immediately rejected the allegation and pointed out that the claim lacked logic.
“Their story did not add up, because when you gave me those dresses, I was an aspirant. I wasn’t even the candidate. Neither were you the vice-presidential candidate,” Shettima quoted Tinubu as saying.
He added that the President intentionally wore the outfits repeatedly to counter the allegation.
“For one week, to prove to them that he is not fetish, he wore those dresses,” Shettima said.
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“These are some of the gimmicks that are taking place in power circles in Nigeria nowadays.”
In his remarks at the event, Shettima also praised Gowon’s leadership legacy, describing him as a statesman whose record contrasts sharply with the growing division and suspicion in modern Nigerian politics.
He commended Gowon’s contributions to national unity, including the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps and his role in the formation of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS.
Describing Gowon as “the last man standing” among Nigeria’s post-independence military generation, Shettima said the autobiography serves as an important reminder of the country’s political history and lessons in leadership.