Shettima: Some People Told Tinubu My Clothes Were Charmed to Kill Him

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has disclosed that some individuals attempted to sow distrust between him and President Bola Tinubu by claiming traditional outfits he gave the president during the 2023 campaign were spiritually dangerous.

Shettima made the revelation in Abuja on Tuesday during the launch of the autobiography of former military Head of State Yakubu Gowon.

According to him, the allegations surfaced barely three months after he and Tinubu were sworn into office.

“When we were campaigning for him to emerge as the candidate of the APC, we were going round the north. So, I got some materials and caps for him to blend with the northern crowd. It fitted him very well. So his aides said, ‘produce more, it fitted him,’” he explained.

“Barely three months when we were sworn into office, some of my people from Borno came to him and said, ‘stop wearing those Shettima clothings. He must have charmed them. And you’re going to die. And he will become the president.’”

The vice-president said President Tinubu rejected the allegation and continued wearing the garments to demonstrate his disbelief in the claims.

“And to the eternal credit of the president. When I came back from China, where I represented him, he said, ‘sit down. Your people came to me and said I should stop wearing those garments you gave me.’

“But he said their story did not add up because when you gave those garments, I was an aspirant.

“For one week to prove to them that he is not fetish, he wore those garments,” Shettima stated.

He described the episode as part of the “gimmicks” often seen within political power circles in Nigeria.

Speaking about Yakubu Gowon, Shettima praised the former leader for promoting national unity and religious tolerance during his time in office.

He noted that Gowon, despite being a Christian from northern Nigeria, enjoyed acceptance across ethnic and religious lines.

“His life proved that identity can be carried without hostility. History teaches us that the Nigerian project becomes stronger whenever citizens refuse to become weapons in the hands of sectarianism and division,” he said.

The vice-president also highlighted Gowon’s role in advancing regional integration in Africa through the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States, saying the vision of cooperation among West African nations remains important today.

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