‘They said I wanted to kill President Tinubu’ – VP Shettima

By Tolulope Oke

Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima on Tuesday recounted a bizarre warning given to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu barely three months after the administration was inaugurated, claiming some people from Borno State told the President to stop wearing traditional attire gifted by Shettima — alleging the clothes were used to “charm” him and would lead to his death.

Shettima spoke during the public presentation of former Head of State Yakubu Gowon’s autobiography, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, where he represented the President.

He explained that Tinubu rejected the claim outright and deliberately wore the garments for an entire week to publicly debunk the rumor.

“Sit down. Your people came to me and said I should stop wearing those dresses you gave me. They said I must have been charmed, and that I am going to die and he will become the president,” Shettima recalled Tinubu telling him.

The Vice President used the incident to illustrate the dangerous spread of suspicion in Nigerian public life, contrasting it with former Head of State Gowon’s approach to trust and goodwill. Shettima cited how Gowon received gallons of fura weekly from the Sultan of Sokoto without suspicion, emphasizing that trust once formed the backbone of leadership.

Shettima also reflected on his role in sourcing traditional Borno attire for Tinubu during the 2023 campaign, designed to help the then-candidate connect with northern audiences. While the clothes were positively received during the campaign, a group of individuals later claimed they posed a threat — a claim Tinubu dismissed as “not adding up,” since the attire had been gifted when he was a candidate, not the President.

“For one week, to prove to them that he is not fetish, he wore those dresses. These are some of the gimmicks that are taking place in power circles in Nigeria nowadays,” Shettima said.

In his address, Shettima lauded Gowon’s legacy, highlighting his NYSC initiative, ECOWAS contributions, and national reconciliation efforts, urging Nigerians to confront divisive forces undermining unity. Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., he concluded:

“Let us learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

The event drew prominent figures, including former President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Sultan of Sokoto, and senior retired military officers, reflecting the wide resonance of Shettima’s remarks and the historical significance of Gowon’s autobiography.