Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has recounted an incident involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the 2023 election campaign, revealing how the president reacted to claims that traditional outfits gifted to him by Shettima carried spiritual implications.
Shettima disclosed the story during the unveiling of the autobiography of former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, as aired by TVC News from 0:41 on Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
Speaking at the event, the vice president said he had purchased traditional Borno materials and caps for Tinubu while they were campaigning for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress in northern Nigeria.
“Permit me to pay tribute to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on a similar episode. When we were campaigning for him to emerge as the aspirant of the APC, we were going around the north,” Shettima said. “You know, we the people of Borno are unlike the Sokoto people, we are the best dressed northerners,” he added jokingly.
According to Shettima, he gave Tinubu traditional “Wagambari” materials and caps so he could better blend with northern audiences during the campaign. “So, you know, I got some Wagambari materials and caps for him to blend with the northern crowd. So it fitted him very well,” he stated.
He said Tinubu’s aides were impressed with the outfits and requested additional sets after seeing how well they suited him. “So his aides were saying, ‘Please produce more, it fitted him,’” Shettima said.
The vice president, however, disclosed that shortly after Tinubu assumed office, some individuals from Borno approached the president and urged him to stop wearing the clothes.
“Barely three months, when he was sworn into office, some of my people from Borno came to him and said, ‘Please stop wearing those Shettima’s clothes. He must have charmed them, and you are going to die, and he will become the president,’” he recounted.
Shettima said Tinubu later informed him about the allegation after he returned from an official engagement in China. “And to the eternal credit of the president, when I came back from China, while I represented him at the Bells and Roses initiative campaign, he said, ‘Sit down. Your people came to me and said I should stop wearing those dresses you gave me,’” he said.
According to Shettima, Tinubu dismissed the claims because the timeline of events did not support the accusation. “But he said their story did not add up, because when you gave me those dresses, I was an aspirant. I wasn’t the candidate, neither were you the vice presidential candidate,” Shettima stated.
The vice president said Tinubu continued wearing the outfits for an entire week to demonstrate that he did not believe in the allegations. “For one week, to prove to them that he is not fetish, he wore those dresses,” he said. “These are some of the gimmicks that are taking place in power cycles in Nigeria nowadays,” Shettima added….Read_More…