Vice President Kashim Shettima has revealed that a group of visitors from his home state of Borno once warned President Bola Tinubu that the traditional outfits Shettima gave him during the 2023 campaign were laced with charms meant to kill him.

Shettima said the visitors urged Tinubu to stop wearing the flowing Borno robes and cap, alleging that the garments had been spiritually manipulated so that the President would die in office and the Vice President would take his place.

According to Shettima, Tinubu dismissed the allegation as illogical and responded by wearing the same outfits for an entire week, a gesture the Vice President described as a deliberate repudiation of the rumour and of the culture of suspicion surrounding Nigerian politics.

Shettima spoke while representing Tinubu at the public presentation of former Head of State Yakubu Gowon’s autobiography, titled My Life of Duty and Allegiance, in Abuja.

He used the episode to highlight what he called the corrosive spread of mistrust in public life, contrasting it with the atmosphere of confidence that, in his view, characterised Gowon’s era.

Recalling an anecdote shared by the Sultan of Sokoto, Shettima noted that Gowon once received gallons of fura from the Sultan’s family every week at Dodan Barracks and consumed them without fear of poisoning or spiritual harm. That level of trust, he argued, has largely vanished.

Shettima traced the origin of the disputed garments to the 2023 campaign, when Tinubu sought to connect with northern voters. The then-governor-turned-running mate arranged for traditional Borno attire, which quickly became a staple of Tinubu’s northern rallies after positive feedback from his aides.

After the election, while Shettima was in Beijing representing Nigeria at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum, a delegation from Borno reportedly visited the President with the warning about the clothes. On his return, Tinubu relayed their claims to his deputy, who said the President immediately pointed out that the story made no sense because both men were still aspirants when the garments were first presented.

Shettima described the incident as one of many “gimmicks” in Nigeria’s power circles and used it to call for a renewed commitment to national unity, praising Gowon’s role in establishing the National Youth Service Corps and helping to found the Economic Community of West African States as instruments of reconciliation.