ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-Vice President Kashim Shettima has said President Bola Tinubu deliberately excluded the removal of the petrol subsidy from his inaugural address, describing the policy as a “top secret” decision intended to avoid external pressure or attempts to dissuade him.
Shettima made the statement on Friday during a courtesy visit by state governors to the President at his Lagos residence, held to mark Eid el-Kabir and the administration’s third anniversary.
“Your Excellency, the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy, you kept it a top secret; it wasn’t part of your speech,” Shettima said.
“It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. You had made that decision and kept it close to your heart because you believed if you had incorporated it into your speech, some people would try to persuade you not to do so.”
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He further praised the move as “the courage of leadership,, “the audacity of hope,” and “the effrontery to see into the future.”
According to him, the administration’s economic reforms were necessary because Tinubu inherited a weakened system that required deep structural correction.
He said, “You did not come to power at the season of ease. You came at a time when the house required more than a painter. It required a builder with the courage to examine the foundation.
You inherited a nation standing before difficult questions, a nation trapped between the comfort of old illusions and the necessity of a new beginning. In that defining hour, you choose not to postpone the surgery.
You choose not to massage the wound.
“You choose to confront the contradictions that have held this country hostage for 50 years.
That, Mr President, is the miracle of your courage. What you have done is not simply to administer a government. You have begun the difficult work of re-engineering a nation. It’s not a banquet. It is a battlefield. It is not a picnic for the pain-hearted. It is a covenant with the future.”
Tinubu, according to reports, also defended the subsidy removal, insisting it prevented a looming fiscal crisis and is now yielding positive outcomes for both states and citizens.
During the meeting, Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum and Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodimma, said the governors collectively rated the President’s performance at 100 per cent, adding that he “recovered Nigeria from the road of collapse to that of stability and survival.”