Vice President Kashim Shettima has revealed that shortly after President Bola Tinubu assumed office in 2023, a group of individuals from Borno State approached the President with claims that traditional outfits given to him by Shettima during the election campaign had been spiritually manipulated. According to Shettima, the visitors warned Tinubu to stop wearing the clothes, alleging that they were intended to charm him and eventually lead to his death.
Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja during the public presentation of former Head of State Yakubu Gowon’s autobiography, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, Shettima said Tinubu completely rejected the allegation. Rather than avoid the outfits, the President reportedly responded by wearing the traditional attire continuously for an entire week to publicly dismiss the claims. Shettima said Tinubu considered the accusation baseless and a reflection of the unhealthy level of suspicion growing in society.
The Vice President used the story to highlight what he described as the erosion of trust in Nigerian public life. He contrasted the incident with an earlier account shared by the Sultan of Sokoto, who recalled how his family regularly sent gallons of fura to General Yakubu Gowon at Dodan Barracks in Lagos during his time as Head of State. According to Shettima, Gowon accepted the gesture openly and without suspicion, unlike the atmosphere of distrust that now characterises many relationships in the country.
Shettima also recounted how the Borno attire came about during the build-up to the 2023 presidential campaign. As Tinubu toured northern states seeking support ahead of the APC primaries, Shettima sourced traditional Borno clothing and a matching cap for him so he could better connect with northern audiences. He said Tinubu embraced the outfits and wore them repeatedly throughout the campaign. However, after returning from Beijing in October 2023, where he represented Tinubu at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum, Shettima said the President informed him about the warning from the visitors, recounting how they claimed the garments were part of a plot to make Shettima president.
Elijah Adeyemi
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