ILORIN, Nigeria – Vice President Kashim Shettima, GCON, has arrived in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, on an official state visit to inaugurate major industrial infrastructure and attend the historic turbaning ceremony of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, CON, as the first Sardauna of Ilorin at the Emir’s Palace, State House correspondents confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, September 16, 2026.
The presidential aircraft touched down at the General Tunde Idiagbon International Airport in Ilorin, where the Vice President was received with full state honors by Governor AbdulRazaq, who serves concurrently as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).
Okay News reports that a high-powered delegation of state chief executives joined the reception line in solidarity with their NGF colleague, including the Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma; the Governor of Ekiti State, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji; the Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya; and the Governor of Kebbi State, Dr. Nasir Idris, alongside federal ministers and legislative leaders.
The visit features the traditional investiture of Governor AbdulRazaq as the Sardauna of Ilorin by the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman of the Kwara State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, CFR, in an ancient ceremony convened at the forecourt of the Emir’s Palace.
The title, which traditionally designates the holder as the honorary defense custodian of the emirate, marks the first time in the history of the Ilorin Emirate that the prestigious title has been bestowed upon an individual, an honor conferred by the monarch in recognition of the governor’s administrative leadership, infrastructure delivery, and promotion of social harmony.
Alongside the cultural rites, Vice President Shettima will formally commission the Kwara Garment Factory, a landmark manufacturing enterprise established by the state government to accelerate real-sector industrialization, expand textile value-chain processing, and generate employment across the North Central zone.
State officials indicated that the state-of-the-art apparel plant is engineered to generate more than 4,000 direct jobs when operating at full multi-shift capacity, with over 500 trained workers recruited for the initial production phase.
The Vice President is also billed to inaugurate the newly completed 11-storey Kwara Revenue House, constructed to centralize operations for the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) and improve fiscal administration across the state.
The double-barreled state visit underscores the Federal Government’s commitment to partnering with sub-national governments in expanding grassroots industrial production while celebrating traditional institutions as pillars of cultural preservation and national cohesion.
