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I was accused of plotting to kill Tinubu – VP Shettima
He said Tinubu not only rejected the claim but responded by deliberately wearing the clothing for an entire week as a public rebuke to what he called a story that “did not add up.”
Shettima spoke while delivering his address at the public presentation of former Head of State Yakubu Gowon’s autobiography, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, in Abuja on Tuesday, where he represented Tinubu.
Shettima used the incident to illustrate what he described as the dangerous spread of suspicion in Nigerian public life.
He noted that Gowon accepted the gesture without any suspicion, in a spirit of trust that he said has since been eroded.
The VP said, “His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, had been narrating the story of the family of the Sultan sending gallons of fura every week to General Yakubu Gowon in Dodan Barracks, because of the trust and confidence General Gowon was willingly receiving it without any suspicion.
“But now the game is different. Suspicion smears our relationships, and it ought not to be. We are essentially one people tied to a common destiny.”
Narrating his personal story involving Tinubu, Shettima recalled that in the lead-up to the 2023 presidential primaries, as the President canvassed support across the North, he sourced traditional Borno attire and a cap for Tinubu to wear at campaign events so the candidate could blend with the northern crowd.
He said positive feedback from Tinubu’s aides proved that the clothing fitted well, and Tinubu wore it repeatedly during the campaign.
However, the confrontation came just months after victory.
Shettima said he had travelled to Beijing in October 2023 to represent Tinubu at the 3rd Belt and Road Initiative Forum, held from October 16 to 18, one of his early high-profile foreign assignments as Vice President.
When he returned from China, Tinubu summoned him and delivered a message from a group of people about the clothes.
He narrated, “When I came back from China, where I had represented him at the Belt and Road Initiative Conference, he said: ‘Sit down. Your people came to me and said I should stop wearing those dresses you gave me. They said I must have been charmed, and that I am going to die and he will become the president.’”
According to Shettima, he responded,
“Their story did not add up, because when you gave me those dresses, I was an aspirant. I wasn’t even the candidate. Neither were you the vice-presidential candidate.”
However, he said the President proceeded to wear the dresses for a week.
“For one week, to prove to them that he is not fetish, he wore those dresses.
“These are some of the gimmicks that are taking place in power circles in Nigeria nowadays.”
In his address, Shettima poured encomiums on Gowon, saying his life embodied the opposite of sectarian suspicion.
Shettima cited Gowon’s establishment of the NYSC as a reconciliation instrument, his ECOWAS legacy, and the urgent need for Nigerians to confront divisive forces that seek to undermine unity.
He referenced Plateau State, whose governor, Caleb Mutfwang, was present, urging an end to cycles of violence in language that cited linguistic, genealogical, and historical ties across the divisions currently producing bloodshed on the Plateau.
On Gowon, whom he called the “the last man standing” among Nigeria’s post-independence military generation, Shettima said the autobiography is “a bottom of memory at a time when our country needs a discipline of remembrance.”
He said, “There are people who are remembered before they leave office.
“There are others whose memory endures because office became, in their hands, an instrument of national meaning. General Gowon belongs to the second company.”
He also quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in closing, calling on Nigerians to either unite or face collective ruin.
“Let us learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools,” he stated.
The event was attended by former President Goodluck Jonathan, who chaired the occasion, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented by Senator Ireti Kingibe; the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III; the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem; and a galaxy of retired generals, including the son of late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha.
Former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon (retd.) has revealed that the refusal of the United States and Britain to supply arms to Nigeria during the civil war drove his government into the arms of the Soviet Union and a Lebanese black-market businessman.
He said the two unlikely lifelines eventually turned the tide of the three-year conflict, which raged from July 1967 to January 1970.
The revelations are contained in Chapter Fifteen of Gowon’s 859-page autobiography titled My Life of Duty and Allegiance, obtained by our correspondent at the book’s launch in Abuja on Tuesday, where President Bola Tinubu was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The chapter, titled “If The Devil’s Ready To Help,” chronicles Gowon’s desperate search for weapons as Nigeria’s ammunition stockpile collapsed to half a million rounds for the entire Army by late 1968.
He said the stockpile was insufficient to sustain operations, while traditional Western allies remained aloof.
He wrote, “As the weeks of fighting wore on, our stock of ammunition was steadily depleted by these wastes, and we could not replenish them because international sales restrictions prevented suppliers from selling military hardware to Nigeria.
“Left with no choice, I ordered the Federal troops to hold their position after the capture of Enugu up to Okigwe and Umuahia because I could not, in clear conscience, commit them to further advance knowing that the ammunition to sustain the effort was in short supply.”
Gowon said he was particularly stung by the contrast between the inaction of the Western allies in Nigeria and their aggressive military posture in Vietnam and Cambodia, where American air power was being deployed at scale.
He sought out the British and American ambassadors in a meeting he described as one of the most consequential of the war.
About the meeting, he said, “If I say I’m not disappointed, it will be an understatement.
“I, however, left them in no doubt that I had a duty and responsibility to keep Nigeria united and safe for all Nigerians and other nationals resident in Nigeria.
“As they were about to enter their cars, preparatory to leaving the State House, I said, if I say I’m not disappointed, it will be an understatement, so I will go to any devil to get what I need to deal with the problem, to do my duty to my country, and when that happens, I hope I will not be accused of doing something wrong.”
Both ambassadors left without any commitment, Gowon said.
However, the former Head of State said he had already decided on his next move.
He said Moscow’s willingness to supply arms could serve as the lever that forced Britain and America back to the negotiating table.
A Nigerian delegation led by Commissioner of Information Anthony Enahoro, Permanent Secretary Edwin Ogbu, Chief of Air Staff Emmanuel George Kurubo and Ambassador John Ukegbu was promptly dispatched to Moscow.
“The Soviet Union supplied us some MiG-15 trainers and MiG-17 bombers for the meeting, which was a huge success,” he wrote, adding that Soviet-Nigerian relations grew into something “special” in the aftermath of the war, a warmth that had been purchased by Western indifference.
According to him, Moscow alone could not solve the immediate ammunition crisis.
For that, Gowon said he turned to Ali Jamal, a Lebanese businessman with access to the black market for military hardware, “who strongly believed in Nigeria” and who offered to personally finance the procurement of ammunition and equipment, asking only to be reimbursed interest-free once the government could pay.
“Jamal was not deterred even after I told him that I had no money with which to make immediate payments for the purchases.
“He told me not to worry and that he would use his own money to provide the ammunition we needed but would want to be reimbursed interest-free at the shortest possible time.
“With his support, we were able to get some of the hardware and the ammunition we needed to change the face of the war,” Gowon wrote.
But the arrangement nearly collapsed at the Federal Executive Council when Finance Commissioner Chief Obafemi Awolowo refused to authorise payment, objecting that the process had not been properly followed and that it constituted extra-budgetary expenditure.
To this, he said, “I was aghast because it suddenly appeared to me that the Finance Commissioner and others at the FEC did not understand the depth of the problem I was in to ensure the survival of the men in the field and that war was successfully prosecuted.”
He told Awolowo: “I’m afraid I’ll want to use my powers and authority, which I think I can do as Head of State and Head of Government, to give any department the order to do what is required to be done.”
On the altercation at the council meeting, he said, “Although I used anger and the power of my office to win the argument and retain the integrity of the nation with my friend, I felt proud of my team that always insisted on following due process to justify every action and every expenditure. Jamal subsequently was paid in full.”
The book, running to 859 pages across 36 chapters, covers Gowon’s full life from his Angas origins in Plateau State through his military career, the civil war, his ouster in 1975 and his years in exile and academic study.
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Rt Hon Chinedum Orji Former Abia Assembly Speaker and Patron of Cityboy Movement Wins APC Federal Ticket
UMUAHIA – Rt Hon Engr Chinedum Orji, former Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly and Abia State Patron of the CityBoy Movement, has officially clinched the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket for the Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Chairman of the Abia State National Assembly Primary Election Committee, Barrister Erasmus Cishak, announced the results on Saturday night at the APC State Secretariat in Umuahia. According to Cishak, the primary election was conducted peacefully, transparently, and credibly across all eight federal constituencies in the state.
Orji won in all 32 wards across the three local government areas of Ikwuano, Umuahia North, and Umuahia South. The victory sparked celebrations across the constituency as supporters, youth groups, and party loyalists hailed the outcome as a reward for loyalty, accessibility, and years of legislative experience.
Speaking shortly after the announcement, Orji expressed deep appreciation to the party’s primary election committee, delegates, party executives, leaders, and supporters for the overwhelming confidence reposed in him. He described the victory as a collective triumph for unity, loyalty, and the shared vision of advancing the interests of the people of Ikwuano, Umuahia North, and Umuahia South.
According to the former Speaker, the mandate freely given by party members would further inspire him to remain committed to quality representation, empowerment programmes, and people-oriented legislation that would positively impact the lives of his constituents. He also called on party faithful to remain united and focused ahead of the general elections, stressing that the APC remains determined to strengthen its presence across Abia State.
Political observers believe Orji’s emergence as the APC candidate positions him as a formidable force in Abia politics and a major contender in the forthcoming House of Representatives election.
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London Flight: Peter Obi Speaks on Air Peace Experience, Commends Complimentary SIMPLAA Ride Service (Video)
By Okey Maduforo Awka
The ceremony, held at the Executive Council Chambers inside the Light House in Awka, marks the systematic assembly of “Team Solution 2.0.”
Soludo had earlier sworn in two Commissioners about three weeks ago before the recent inauguration of the 18 appointees.
Governor simultaneously inaugurated four key heads of agencies into the State Executive Council, forming a unified administrative team designed to accelerate Anambra’s economic transformation.
He warned the appointees that their roles must be treated as heavy burdens of public trust rather than invitations to personal luxury.
“In Nigeria, a public appointment is too often viewed as a call to ‘come and chop.’ But under this administration, I don’t see a dining table. What I see is gruelling work; I see fields where you must sweat to serve,” Governor Soludo stated.
The Governor revealed that the entire cabinet selection process was highly intentional, characterized by deep vetting to ensure merit and capacity.
Using a metaphor to describe the high-velocity pace expected of his second-term administration, he remarked:
“The plane is already on autopilot. If you don’t get into the passenger cabin, you must get directly into the cockpit. We are in a race against time to build a liveable and prosperous homeland for over nine million Ndi Anambra.
Governor Soludo further challenged the cabinet members to keep their copy of the Oath of Office close, revealing that he keeps his own displayed in his bedroom as a daily moral compass before stepping out for governance.
He concluded by appealing to the families and relatives of the appointees to manage their personal expectations, stressing that public service requires immense sacrifice and 24/7 commitment.
Responding on behalf of the newly inaugurated executive council members, the Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr. Law Mefor, expressed profound gratitude to both the state legislature for its swift confirmation process and to Governor Soludo for the privilege to serve.
*A BREATH OF FRESH AIR*
The Young Progressives Party (YPP), which it’s name represents what it stands for has again proven to the Anambra people that the party is not just any party but a party that understands what leadership is all about and knows how best in choosing a great leader for the party.
Hon. Chukwunonso Okoye, popularly known as “Ubinaemenni II,” and the first son of former APGA Chairman in Anambra Central, Ozonkpu Chief Nduka Chinedu Okoye, Ubinaemine has officially declared his intention to contest for the Anambra State House of Assembly seat representing Njikoka Constituency 1 in the forthcoming 2026 election under YPP.
Mr Okoye, who is the Executive Director of UBI Hotels Ltd, has emerged as the consensus candidate for the party. While addressing the party faithfuls, he reaffirmied his commitment to grassroots development, youth empowerment, and quality representation, which includes but not to limited to making of positive bills which will help the seating government of Anambra state and ndi Anamnbra state in general to achieving the Anambra of our dreams .
Speaking shortly after he emerged as the party flag bearer. He described his ambition as a call to service aimed at bringing a new voice, a new vision, and a new beginning” to the people of Njikoka Constituency 1.
According to him, “The time is now. The future is ours. Together, we can build better communities through purposeful leadership and people-oriented governance.”
In a show of strong family and political support, his father, High Chief Ozonkpu Nduka Chinedu Okoye who has remained a committed supporter and stakeholder of APGA over the years, openly declared his backing for his son’s aspiration. He also called on APGA faithful and stakeholders across Njikoka and Anambra State to support Chukwunonso Okoye’s ambition, describing him as a young, capable, and visionary leader who understands the needs of the people.
High Chief Ozonkpu Okoye further noted that the aspiration aligns with the youth-driven leadership vision being championed by the Governor of Anambra State, His Excellency Charles Chukwuma Soludo, whom he praised for encouraging greater youth participation in governance and leadership across the state.
Campaign materials released by the aspirant carried strong messages of hope and progress, urging constituents to embrace positive change ahead of the 2026 elections.
Supporters and party faithful have continued to rally around Okoye’s candidacy, expressing confidence in his ability to deliver effective representation and drive developmental projects across the constituency.
The Young Progressives Party has continued to position itself as a platform for emerging leaders and progressive ideals in Anambra State politics as preparations intensify for the 2026 elections.
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