Vice-President Kashim Shettima has disclosed that a group of individuals attempted to sow discord between him and President Bola Tinubu barely three months after their inauguration, by alleging that traditional garments he gifted the president were laced with charms intended to kill him.
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Shettima made the revelation on Tuesday in Abuja at the public presentation of the autobiography of former military head of state General Yakubu Gowon.
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According to the Vice-President, the saga began during the 2023 presidential campaign, when he procured traditional attire and caps for Tinubu to better connect with northern voters.
“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 recalled.
However, shortly after both men were sworn into office, some individuals from his home state of Borno reportedly approached the president with alarming claims.
“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,'” Shettima disclosed.
He praised Tinubu for handling the situation with maturity and sound judgment. Upon his return from an official trip to China, where he represented the president, Tinubu personally briefed him on the encounter — and dismissed the allegations outright, noting that the garments were given during the campaign period when he was merely an aspirant, which undermined the logic of any sinister motive.
“For one week, to prove to them that he is not fetish, he wore those garments,” Shettima said, adding that such schemes reflect the kind of manipulation that thrives in Nigeria’s political circles.
Drawing a contrast with the present climate of suspicion, Shettima paid tribute to Gowon’s era of leadership, recalling how the Sultan of Sokoto’s family would routinely send gifts of fura to Dodan Barracks in Lagos, and the then head of state would receive them without hesitation or distrust.
Describing Gowon as a unifying figure who transcended religious and regional divides, Shettima said, “Here was a Christian son of the north, a child of the north-central, a soldier accepted across lines that others try to harden into walls in Nigeria. His life proved that identity can be carried without hostility.”
On Gowon’s continental legacy, the Vice-President highlighted his instrumental role in founding the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), describing it as one of Africa’s most visionary acts of statecraft — born from the conviction that neighbouring nations must move beyond ceremonial diplomacy toward genuine cooperation on security, economics, and shared development.
“The challenges confronting West Africa may have changed in form, but their underlying demands remain familiar. We need cooperation against insecurity. We need faith that empowers young people. We need diplomacy that prevents conflict from becoming a contagion,” Shettima urged.
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