Tinubu Back On Beat, Ready For Impactful Decisions — Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima has said President Bola Tinubu is back at work and ready to take impactful decisions aimed at improving the lives of Nigerians.

He spoke yesterday after meeting with the president at his Lagos residence where Tinubu had returned to  his four weeks vacation in Europe.

According to the vice president, Tinubu remained in regular contact with members of his administration throughout his time abroad and was consistently briefed on developments in the country.

“We had been in regular contact throughout his sojourn abroad. Advances in science and technology have made it possible to really have impactful leadership wherever one might find himself,” Shettima said.

He added that the president spoke with members of his team almost every other day, receiving updates on developments across the country.

“We are happy he’s back on the beat. As usual, impactful decision making that will touch the lives of the Nigerian people is absolutely essential,” he said.

Shettima also appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the administration, saying Tinubu inherited an economy that was under severe pressure and had taken difficult decisions to stabilise it.

He cited the removal of fuel subsidy and the realignment of the multiple exchange-rate system as some of the far-reaching decisions taken by the president.

The vice president said the government was also rolling out programmes aimed at reducing the impact of economic hardship on Nigerians.

“In the next couple of weeks, we are going to launch e-logistics in the Northeast. We are going to run 10,600 electric tricycles to ease the pains of the people in the Northeast, and 300 buses and taxis, e-taxis,” he said.

Shettima also highlighted the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), describing it as a major intervention designed to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education.

He said the government remained conscious of the difficulties being experienced by Nigerians and was working on additional measures to ameliorate the situation.

“The president has empathy, a lot of empathy for the common man,” Shettima said, “Politics is in the air, but we will combine politics and governance.”