VICE President Kashim Shettima has said President Bola Tinubu’s far-reaching economic decisions saved Nigeria from economic collapse and prevented the country from “falling into pieces.”
Shettima spoke on Saturday while interacting with journalists shortly after visiting President Tinubu in Lagos.
Defending the administration’s economic decisions, Shettima said Nigeria’s foreign reserves stood below $3.9 billion when the government assumed office, describing the economy as being on the verge of collapse, as recorded in Venezuela.
“When we assumed the mantle of leadership, our foreign reserves were a staggering below $3.9 billion that was not enough to import fuel for one month,” Shettima said.
He said Tinubu had the “courage and conviction” to take decisions such as the removal of fuel subsidy and the realignment of the multiple exchange rate.
“The withdrawal of the fuel subsidy, the realignment of the multiple exchange rate were far-reaching decisions.
“The economy was actually on the verge of collapse. He saved the economy,” the VP said.
Acknowledging the hardship Nigerians are experiencing, the Vice President said the government was implementing programmes and projects aimed at easing the burden on citizens.
“We appreciate the pains Nigerians are going through, but tough times do not last forever; tough people do,” he noted.
“The government is rolling out programmes and projects to assuage the pains of our people.”
Shettima said the government would, in the coming weeks, launch several initiatives, including e-logistics in the North-West and electric tricycles in the North-East.
“In the next couple of weeks, we are going to launch e-logistics in the North-West. We are going to launch 10,600 electric tricycles to ease the pains of the people in the North-East, and 300 buses and e-taxis; all these are meant to ameliorate the suffering of our people,” he added.
The meeting in Lagos marked the first public interaction between the President and his deputy since Tinubu returned from his vacation in Europe, and also the first since Shettima returned from the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Tinubu told the nation in a broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day anniversary that the country was on the path of prosperity.
But major opposition leaders — Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) — faulted the claim.
While Atiku accused the administration of plunging the country into worse cases of poverty since assuming office in 2023, Obi said Nigerians were suffering under Tinubu’s government due ot worsening hunger and insecurity.