2023: Why I wore sneakers to NBA conference — Shettima

“When I was told that it was a hostile crowd – I am a banker, trained by one of the best bankers in the world. I am a Jim Ovia boy – I deliberately wore sneakers to snub at them.”
The Vice Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kashim Shettima, has said he wore sneakers to the 62nd Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference deliberately to “snub at the hostile audience.”

In a video posted on Twitter, Mr Shettima said he sent a team, who briefed him that the crowd at the conference was hostile.

Mr Shettima, a former governor of Borno State, became the butt of internet jokes after the photograph of him wearing gym shoes on his loose-fitted suit hit the Nigerian Twittersphere.

At the event held on Monday, Mr Shettima represented the APC presidential flag bearer, Bola Tinubu.

The outfit of the vice presidential candidate birthed a fashion trend spearheaded by GenZ tagged ‘#Shettimachallenge.

Mr Shettima, a former banker, said he used his experience as a former banker to distract the audience with his choice of sneakers.

He claimed that one of the presidential candidates sponsored agents to create mischief. He did not, however, name the candidate.

“When I sent my recon team, one of the presidential candidates, he funded his agents, they held meeting for three nights consequently, to plan mischief.

“When I was told that it was a hostile crowd – I am a banker, trained by one of the best bankers in the world. I am a Jim Ovia boy – I deliberately wore sneakers to snub at them,” he said.

Mr Shettima also claimed that the NBA conference was largely funded by the Lagos State Government.

“The conference was held at the Eko Hotel, which was largely funded by the Lagos State Government. Subsequently, they moved to Atlantic City, a product of an idea by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,” he said.