VP Shettima: People Told Tinubu I Wanted Him Dead to Take Power

VP Shettima: People Told Tinubu I Wanted Him Dead to Take Power

Vice President Kashim Shettima has revealed that just three months into the Tinubu administration, some individuals from Borno State told President Bola Tinubu that traditional outfits he received during the 2023 campaign were spiritually dangerous.

Shettima recalled that Tinubu called him after hearing the claim and recounted the conversation:

“Three months into our swearing in, some people told Tinubu I was planning to kill him to take over power. The president had called me and said, ‘Sit down! Your people came to me and said stop wearing those Shettima’s clothes.”

Instead of believing the rumor, Tinubu doubled down. The VP said the president wore the outfits repeatedly for days to show he rejected the claim and was not swayed by superstition.

The vice president explained that he had arranged Borno-style attire and caps for Tinubu during the 2023 campaign tours across northern states. The garments became a staple of Tinubu’s campaign look after aides confirmed they suited him.

Shettima said the issue came up again after he returned from representing Nigeria at the 3rd Belt and Road Initiative Forum in China in October 2023.

Tinubu told him a delegation had visited with warnings about the clothes. But the president dismissed it, noting that “it did not add up” because the outfits were given to him before either man assumed office.

To counter the narrative, Tinubu wore the attire publicly for about a week.

The vice president used the incident to highlight what he called rising suspicion in Nigeria’s political space.

He contrasted it with earlier times, recalling how Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Abubakar once described families in Sokoto sending bowls of fura to then-Head of State Yakubu Gowon at Dodan Barracks. Gowon accepted it freely because relationships were built on trust.

“Suspicion smears our relationships, and it ought not to be. We are essentially one people tied to a common destiny,” Shettima said.

The episode shows how political rumors can surface even at the highest levels, but also how Tinubu chose to dismiss them publicly. Shettima says Nigeria needs more trust and less suspicion to move forward.

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