Shettima’s choice of dress to NBA conference had sparked a #ShettimaChallenge which tweeps used to mimic his outfit.
Datti Baba-Ahmed, the running mate to Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has aimed a sarcastic remark at his counterpart in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Kashim Shettima, over his “improved dress sense” to public functions. Recall that, while filing in for his principal, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference held in Lagos last August, Shettima had caused a ruckus courtesy his choice of oversized suit-and-sneakers combo to the event.
The development made the former Borno State Governor the butt of many jokes on social media where his dress sense was heavily mocked with different posts, leading to #ShettimaChallenge trending on Twitter for days. Although the APC vice presidential candidate later claimed that he deliberately rocked sneakers on suit to shame the “hostile crowd” at the NBA event, his statement was viewed as an afterthought by social media critics who continued to drag him on the bird app. Meanwhile, speaking at a conference held in Abuja on Thursday, December 1, 2022, the Labour Party vice presidential candidate observed that Shettima has upped his wardrobe game in recent times. However, while praising his improved dressing sense, Baba-Ahmed said Shettima remains a “morally-bankrupt character” who is out of touch with reality, urging him to desist from belittling his political opponents and improve on his public composure and discipline. “We congratulate Mr. Shettima on having improved his dressing, but equally remind him that he needs to improve on his public composure and discipline in communication.
“Shettima is called upon to speak kindly and more responsibly about all personalities if only to uphold long-established standards. Little wonder he has consistently put to shame the noble heritage of the great Bornu Empire, in his unguarded and uncultured public pronouncements, which expose his intellectual laziness and discomfort with empirical facts and arguments.
“Regular insults which have now become his trademark, have not spared the current Vice President whom he directed to go and sell ice cream, nor the former vice president whom he described as a pure water seller, a noble venture which serves the populace better than a certain white substance. “It is pertinent to recall how Mr. Shettima at a recent public event belittled Atiku Abubakar’s educational qualification as well as the modest lifestyle of Peter Obi. Clearly Mr. Shettima is out of touch with reality and cannot understand that people like Peter Obi who have reached the heights in business and material achievement have long transcended the need for ostentatious display of wealth.”
