Shettima: We Must End Fuel Subsidy Now or It Will End Nigeria

.Says govt will collapse multiple exchange rates into one

.Mourns Raymond Dokpesi 

Deji Elumoye in Abuja 

Vice President Kashim Shettima has justified the urgent need to end fuel subsidy regime in the country saying the practice must be terminated so that the Nigerian nation can continue to survive.

According to him, the new government had anticipated that there will be serious opposition to its decision to remove fuel subsidy, but noted the pressing need to be resolute in achieving the objective.

Shettima, who made this known Tuesday while speaking with newsmen on his first day in office at the State House, Abuja, however warned that Nigeria needs to get rid of fuel subsidy, otherwise the subsidy would get rid of the Nigerian nation.

He stressed that the subsidy regime has not benefited the ordinary Nigerian, but has been subsidizing the lifestyle of the already affluent, assuring that despite the expected opposition from beneficiaries of the subsidy regime, President Bola Tinubu, whom he described as a man of strong will and conviction, would frontally address the menace.

His words: “The President has already made pronouncements yesterday on the issue of the fuel subsidy. The truth of the matter is that it is either we get rid of subsidy or the fuel subsidy gets rid of the Nigerian nation. 

“In 2022, we spent $10billion subsidizing the ostentatious lifestyle of the upper class of the society because you and I benefit 90% from the oil subsidy. The poor 40% of Nigerians benefit very little and we know the consequences of unveiling a masquerade. 

“We will get fierce opposition from those benefitting from the oil subsidy scam, but where there is a will, there is a way. Be rest assured that our President is a man of strong will and conviction. 

“In the fullness of time you will appreciate his noble intentions for the nation. The issue of fuel subsidy will be frontally addressed. The earlier we do so, the better”, he said.

Commenting on the issue of multiple foreign currency exchange rates, the Vice President assured that “we are going to collapse it into one.

He further stated that before long President Tinubu will unfold the agenda of the new administration that will benefit all Nigerians.

“So these are two big elephants in the room and as the days go by, we will be unveiling our agenda. He is going to unveil his agenda because as I have always said, there can never be two captains in a ship.

“He is the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. I’m the Vice President. Your relevance is directly proportional to the level of your loyalty to the President. This is a gentleman that I have known for well over a decade; that I have interacted closely with. Be rest assured that we are going to work harmoniously as a team, as a family for the greater good of our nation”, he said. 

Shettima said the President was poised to redefine the meaning of modern governance, saying he will provide the needed leadership, but also requested Nigerians to give him and his administration the needed support.

He said: “I believe this generation has a rendezvous with destiny and my principal, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is poised to redefine the meaning and concept of modern governance. 

“I want to assure Nigerians that he is going to provide the lead. He is going to provide the leadership and we will rally round him, give him our unequivocally support and loyalty to see to the realization of the Nigerian dream—a Nigeria where every black man in the world should be proud of. 

“Power to me is a humbling experience. It’s all about how we can make life better for the common man. So, i want to assure our countrymen that President Bola Tinubu will, by the grace of God, catapult this nation to a higher pedestal. He is determined; he has the skills-set, he has the temperament, the disposition and the purity of mind and commitment to give service to this nation”.

Speaking on the death of the Chairman of DAAR Communications, Chief Raymond Dokpesi, he said “he was my very good friend, Dokpesi. He was 71 and and it is a relatively young age in the context of increased life span of humanity. 

“He was looking very robust and healthy. May his soul rest in peace. He was my very friend, the Vice President further said.