"TINUBU DID NOT PLAN TO DECEIVE NIGERIANS" – SHETTIMA

Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR administration has no plans of deceiving Nigerians or making life more difficult for citizens.

Shettima assured that the current economic challenges confronting the country would soon be over.

The Vice President revealed this during the 29th pre-Ramadan lecture organised by the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni, UMA, with the theme, “Economic Reforms for Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects for the Future.”

Represented by his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the Vice President urged Nigerians to react to the current realities “in a responsible and mature manner”, stating that the current administration is facing the difficult and challenging task of fixing the problems confronting Nigeria.

He said: “Yet, my brothers and sisters, we do not have the choice of continuing in the direction that brought us where we are today. We have to fix this country, and failure to do this is not an option.

"All the options we have are difficult and challenging, and they are, without a doubt, more telling on the poor. If there are easier and reliable alternatives to the policy choices we have adopted, we would have adopted them.

“Our administration does not plan to make the lives of Nigerians more difficult. Nor do we intend to deceive fellow citizens that the change in direction and the expected outcome can be achieved without pain or sacrifices.

“We are also acutely aware that ours is a set of related Nigerian problems, and the solutions we seek must be genuinely informed by a Nigerian context, not the experiences of others or the preferences of special foreign interests which are removed from consequences of mis-steps or errors of judgement.

“We expect that Nigerians should express their feelings over our circumstances in a responsible and mature manner. We are also a deeply religious people, and we believe in the powers of faith and prayers.”