Vice-President Kashim Shettima says President Bola Tinubu stood firm against pressures from oil sector cabals after the removal of petrol subsidy.
Shettima made this known on Wednesday during a courtesy visit by the newly elected executives of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) at the presidential villa.
The group was led by NACCIMA’s national president, Jani Ibrahim, according to a statement by Stanley Nkwocha, spokesperson to the vice-president.
Shettima described the subsidy removal as long overdue, calling it a burden previous administrations could not handle.
“I want to assure you that the current administration is your own because the President speaks your language – the language of commerce,” he said.
He explained that the President understands the business environment, having worked as the financial controller at Mobil.
“And he (the President) has taken some bold initiatives. For instance, while fuel subsidy had been an albatross around the neck of successive administrations, he had the courage and the conviction to withdraw fuel subsidy.
“And we know the consequence of unveiling a masquerade. The oil cabal is richer than the Nigerian nation; they fought back, but he (President Tinubu) refused to budge.”
Shettima emphasized that the President stood his ground because his actions were in the “best interest of Nigerians”.
He reaffirmed the administration’s support for businesses and emphasized the importance of the private sector in achieving national development goals.
“This is how great nations build; this is how Korea became what it is,” he said.
Jani Ibrahim, speaking as the new NACCIMA president and OPS chairman, said he assumed office a month ago.
He praised Shettima for his leadership of critical economic institutions like the national economic council (NEC), National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
Ibrahim called for regular dialogue between the OPS and the vice-president’s office, proposing bi-annual meetings.
He also recommended including private sector representatives in technical and policy councils of the government.
On May 29, President Bola Tinubu officially announced the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Three months after, TheCable reported that the President was weighing the idea of a “temporary subsidy” on petrol due to rising crude oil prices and foreign exchange rates.
Though the federal government repeatedly denied any reintroduction of subsidy, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited stated on August 19 that it was owed N7.8 trillion for under-recovery.
Nigeria completely ended subsidy payments in October 2024 following the deregulation of the downstream sector, which saw petrol prices at NNPC retail outlets exceed N1,000 per litre in line with market rates.