Vice-President Kashim Shettima has criticised former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, saying the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has nothing to supply Nigerians past citing statistics.
Shettima made the remarks on Monday on the thirty second Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, the place he referred to as on members of the nation’s financial group to help the financial insurance policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The vice-president additionally defended the removing of petrol subsidy, arguing that the coverage had addressed distortions within the nation’s gasoline pricing regime and discouraged using subsidised Nigerian petrol in neighbouring international locations.
“I respect Peter Obi for having the courage to say he’s not going to restore the petrol subsidy, but beyond spouting some statistics, Mr Peter Obi has absolutely nothing to offer,” Shettima stated.
He added, “He was surviving on various statistics. So, I call on you, the crème de la crème of the Nigerian economic community, to support us.”
To defend the federal government’s gasoline pricing coverage, Shettima in contrast petrol costs in Nigeria with these in neighbouring international locations, arguing that the figures illustrated the implications of the earlier subsidy association.
According to him, Nigeria consumed roughly 67 million litres of petrol day by day just a few years in the past.
He stated a litre of petrol offered for about N1,148.36 in Niger Republic, N1,729.29 in Benin Republic and N1,945.50 in Cameroon, in contrast with N1,390 in Nigeria.
“The comparison is wide. Nigeria was Christmas for other African countries,” he stated.
Shettima’s feedback got here amid persevering with debate over the financial impression of subsidy removing and the coverage options being canvassed by opposition politicians forward of the 2027 normal elections.
At the identical summit, the vice-president additionally criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his reported proposal to revive petrol subsidy if elected president, arguing that the transfer would reverse the federal government’s financial reforms.
Shettima defended President Tinubu’s resolution to take away the subsidy, saying the president took the tough step as a result of he understood the nation’s financial realities.
“The president took those painful decisions because he understands the dynamics,” he stated.
The Tinubu administration has maintained that subsidy removing was obligatory to deal with fiscal pressures and financial distortions, whereas the coverage and its impression on residing prices stay topics of public debate.
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