Vice President Kashim Shettima has revealed that President Bola Tinubu deliberately kept the plan to remove petrol subsidies out of his inauguration speech in May 2023, deciding instead to announce the policy on the day itself to prevent pressure from people who would have lobbied against the move.

Speaking during a visit to Tinubu’s Lagos residence, Shettima said Tinubu had made the decision to remove the subsidy long before his inauguration but had held the plan close to avoid giving opponents the opportunity to persuade him otherwise. He described the approach as an act of courageous leadership and called it the audacity to see into the future.

The vice president said the administration’s economic reforms had strengthened state governments by expanding their allocations from the federation account, giving governors greater capacity to implement development projects. He told the gathering that state governors owed a debt of gratitude to the president not only for the expanded resources the reforms had made available but for providing a stable political platform from which they could serve their people.

During his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, Tinubu declared that fuel subsidy was gone, a statement that immediately triggered sharp increases in petrol prices and transport costs. The administration defended the decision as necessary to stabilise public finances and redirect resources toward infrastructure and development.